Moments That Matter
by AlphaWriter1
Summary: An ambitious girl turns around after signing up for the new glee club her school is offering,a gold star right besides her name.As soon as she turns,a grape slushy is tossed right into her face,by the resident bad-ass with the custom mohawk.This is the moment where Puckleberry began, as Rachel Berry licked her lips after Noah Puckerman slushied her. A one shot series
1. Born This Way

**Moments That Matter  
A Puckleberry One-Shot Series  
_A/N: This story is a one-shot series, all about those missing Puckleberry moments that we've all been waiting for in the deleted scenes on our DVDs. Unfortunately, the creators haven't taken the time to give us those little moments, so I'm going to give them too all of you Puckleberry fans-if you'd like a scene, please recommend it in a review._  
**_**Born This Way**_

Rachel Berry stood in the girls' bathroom on the first floor of McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, leaning towards the mirror as she examined her nose-the nose she'd always been slightly proud of, because it went to show her Jewish heritage, and it also made her special. After all, hadn't they always told Barbra Streisand that she'd never get anywhere in life without a nose job? Well, if her role model could stand up and refuse to do something to make her look like another Marilyn Monroe-type of girl, why couldn't she do the same? There was no reason that Rachel couldn't be the next Barbra, right?

Unfortunately, as her doctors had pointed out, Barbra was one in a million. Rachel Berry? She was just another girl with an incredible voice and a passion for performing. There was nothing that made her stand out the way Barbra had. She was nothing special-just another girl with a dream and the drive to get her there.

She was startled as she door the bathroom opened and a tall, muscular figure walked in. The mohawked football player was most definitely not a girl-yet Noah Puckerman always seemed to find his way into this particular bathroom. It was pretty much his thing, and neither the faculty or the other students noticed. If a girl saw him walk in, they spread the word and nobody else entered until everybody was sure he was roaming the halls again. If he wasn't talking to a girl who was already in the bathroom, then she left him and the girl he was looking for alone. Of course, most of his little girls' room meetings happened to have taken place with this particular girl who was in here, examining her beautiful face in the mirror.

That bothered him, because it just made it even more clear that Rachel Berry did not realize her own beauty. She was gorgeous, with long, glossy, dark hair and perfect skin. Her eyes led a person right to her soul. And with her voice? She was destined for fame, and her nose was just another asset to her own beauty. It helped to make her seem special, which she was. She didn't need glee club to make her special, like she'd once believed, but the glee club did need her to be special.

"You can't be in here, Noah," She sighed, not quite looking at him as she pulled out another picture of an option she had for the nose job she was planning on getting to 'improve her voice'. Which was ridiculous, as she'd always been afraid to get one because of the affects it could have on her voice.

She didn't want to admit that she was doing this for pure vanity, but Puck knew the truth and he knew that she knew the truth as well. He was also fairly certain that she too knew that he knew her real reasoning. Yet, neither of them spoke about that. After all, they weren't supposed to be friends. They weren't supposed to be anything other than a bully and his victim. Yet, they typically ended up being so much more than that, in a completely better way.

"I can't? I believe I've been in here countless times before, and most of them have had to do with you," He teased her, walking towards her. She glared as she set the picture down and turned towards him, crossing her arms as he stopped right in front of her. She glared up at him, hating the height difference between them.

"What do you want?" She asked him, cocking her hip out, only to realize that it made her seem even shorter. So she un-cocked her hip, standing up straight again, narrowing her eyes just a little bit more, trying her best to look as devious as she possibly could in order to make him realize just how angry she was. "If this is to try and convince me not to get my nose job, then I'm not going to listen. You might as well just turn around leave. Because I'm getting my nose job. It's going to help me with my future and my soon to be career, and while you all just laugh at me constantly for believing I'm going to be famous, but I'm going to-"

"Oh, will you just cut the crap, Rachel? I'm the only one around, alright? It's just you and me, so let's be honest with one another. We've always been honest, right?" He asked, even though that was a lie. He'd lied to her before, but that was a different story and he didn't want to remember that. Besides, she'd deserved to be lied to for what she'd done to him that time.

"We're not even friends, Noah-you've made that clear enough already," She said bitterly, turning back towards the mirror, but she didn't compare shots this time. She simply put a hand to her nose, examining her own nose on her own face. "Why should I listen to you?" She wondered.

"Because I know that this is stupid, alright? I told you-girls from Temple do this all the time, and it's just not...they aren't the same anymore. They've cut off their Jewish heritage and it just makes me sad, alright? Because while I may not be the best Jew, I do respect my religion and I do happen to love it, alright?" He told her. "And I always thought you did too," He said softly, turning away from her. "That was what attracted me to you," He admitted.

"You were-never mind, that's not important," She shook her head, turning back towards him with a sigh. "Listen, this is to help better my talent and ensure my future. I'm not doing this because of my culture or any vanity reasons. This is purely a way to help increase my vocal talents. So don't-"

"Cut the crap, already!" Puck snapped, turning around and pacing a little bit before turning and walking back towards her. That was what he did when he was angry. Rachel recognized that, mixed in with his face that she'd only seen him make once before, when they were working on their music video the previous year. "Rachel, I know why you're doing this, alright? And it's ridiculous, because you're too good for him and he doesn't deserve you," Puck said.

Rachel froze as she brought her lipstick to her lips, about to touch up her make-up. She was leaning towards the mirror, her lips parted slightly and the lipstick just about to hit her lip. She lowered herself from her tip toes and straightened up, slowly putting the lipstick away, trying to figure out how Puck could have figured out her real reasoning for this. After all, it wasn't like any of her real friends-anybody close to her-had yet to figure it out. She slowly turned towards him with her head low and panic flooding her deep, dark brown eyes.

"How'd you figure out that I was doing this to get Finn back?" She whispered softly, running a hand through her hair as she pointedly looked anywhere but up at him, knowing that he wasn't going to feel any sympathy towards her and her sadness for what she was doing and why she was doing such a thing.

"Why else would you pick Quinn's nose?" Puck wondered, surprising her with the softness of his tone and the sincerity in his voice. He reached out and set his hands on her hips. "I mean, you're much more beautiful than her, because all of your flaws and imperfections? Those are what make you you," He whispered, pulling her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And, like I said before, you can do better than a guy like Finn. You deserve better and he's not worthy of a girl as beautiful and talented as you, with such determination to get what she wants." He told her, breaking the hug apart but still keeping his hands on her hips. "I actually think that he's a little intimidated by you," He whispered fiercely into her ear.

"Noah, what are you getting at?" She asked, taking a step away from him and picking up her bag. She started putting her things back in her bag. She slid it onto her shoulder and stared up at him. "We should be in rehearsal right now, alright? So can you get to the point please, and tell me what you want?" She wondered, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I need one hour of your time tomorrow, alright? Just give me that, and," He sighed, taking a deep breath. "I'll never bug you again," He whispered. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his own. She softened a bit as she noticed the honest intensity that was flooding his eyes as he spoke, a pained expression on his face, showing that he really didn't want to make this deal, but figured it would be the only way to make her listen to him and his reason.

"I don't want that," She whispered.

"Rachel, come on-I don't know what else I can offer you to make you-"

"No, I mean...I don't want you to never bug me again."

"So you _want _slushy facials?"

"Well, no. An end to the bullying would be a welcome change, but, well...sometimes you don't bully me, and sometimes you're quite helpful and sweet," She shrugged.

And this was true. After all, he'd noticed she was upset when she'd found out about Santana and Finn, so he'd come to her, offering to walk with her as she talked. He'd listened to her, wondering what it was that she'd done wrong, exactly. And then he'd come over, kissing her because he knew that she felt unwanted. And maybe that had caused some trouble in her relationship with Finn, bringing it to an end, but it had still been sweet. It had still been nice. Besides any of that, though, he'd even confronted Finn, which was something nobody else knew but her, to wonder what exactly Rachel had done wrong to cause him to dump her.

He'd even offered to help her when it came her bad reputation project. Sure, he'd tried to hit on her countless times at that, but they'd had a sweet, honest conversation while working on the project, and that had been a nice surprise for her. She found that she enjoyed having nice, regular conversations with him.

And then he'd stood up for her, when even Finn, her boyfriend, hadn't bothered to do that. Santana had been rude to her, saying that nobody in the club _really _liked her. And Puck? He'd defended her, saying that he actually _did _sort of like her, maybe, just a little bit. Kind of. And that had probably been the point where Finn had first started to get angry and jealous due to the relationship between the two of them-the one that didn't really exist.

"I'm _sweet?" _He wondered, coughing slightly, as if the word itself choked him.

"You've never heard that before, have you?" She wondered, a playful smile on her face.

"Of course I've never heard that before. I'm the school's bad ass!" He said.

"If I can't say that I want the nose job because of my career, than I believe you should admit the real reason you try to be such a bad ass all the time," Rachel said reasonably.

"Why? Because I'm afraid of getting hurt," He said. He could have said it bitterly or sarcastically, but Rachel was around and he was always honest with her. So why wouldn't he keep that up now. No, his words were, in fact, sweet and truthful. "My dad left me and my mom, and my little sister. I'm afraid to get attached to people, and I don't ever want anybody to make me feel the way my dad did when he was around. He made me miserable. He made me feel like shit and he hurt me. I swore, the day he left, that nobody was ever going to do that to my sister or to me-or my mother-ever again," He said.

"I know," She whispered.

"Then why'd you-"

"Because I thought it was time you admitted it to yourself," She shrugged.

"Rachel...please, don't get some sort of nose job just so you can look a little bit like Quinn and make Finn want you again. That's not right. If he doesn't want you because of your talent and your humor and...your personality over all, then he doesn't deserve you at all. If he only wants your body or your face, well, he's not worthy of a girl as complex as you, and he won't be able to handle it," He shrugged.

"Coming from you, don't be offended if I don't choose to believe you or listen," She said, pushing past him on her way to the door. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"I never wanted any girl just because of their body. Not a girl I've wanted an actual relationship with," He told her, a fierce look in his eyes. "I've never dated a girl, having a real relationship with her, when all I wanted was her body," He said intensely. It was the first time that Rachel had ever been just a little bit afraid when talking to him.

"You've never had a relationship before..."Rachel said, lowering her head.

"I dated you," He reminded her.

"You-"

"Rachel, I liked you, alright? I'm not ashamed to admit that," He shrugged.

She lowered her head, gulping, but not looking at him. She didn't want to look at him, because then she'd loose it. She'd tell him that she had always liked him, just a little bit. She turned pulled her arm from him and started walking towards the door. When she reached it, she turned around and faced him, still not looking up at him

"One hour, alright?" She offered.

"And I'll never bully you again," He promised.

"And, Noah?" She asked.

"Yeah, Berry?"

"I just wanted to let you know...I liked you too," She said before she disappeared into the hallway.

Puck stood there, crossing his arms as he smiled slightly to himself before turning around and heading off towards the hallway, to head towards Glee.

He didn't feel one hundred percent accomplished. After all, Rachel had said that she _liked _him-which implied the past tense, and that she didn't feel the same way he did.

THen again, he hadn't exactly told her his real feelings yet.

* * *

Rachel Berry studied her closet, trying to figure out what she wanted to wear for her 'date' with Puck. She wasn't exactly sure what they'd be doing when they got there-she really had no idea what they were even going or where they were going. She shrugged as she selected a pair of bleach stained skinny jeans and a long, purple tee shirt with an open back. She added on a pair of black wedges. Then she got to work on her hair and make-up, finishing just as a car horn beeped outside of her window.

She hurried from her bedroom, down the stairs, and outside, right towards the truck. She opened the door and lifted herself inside, smiling up at him. Their conversation from the day before was stuck in her head, and she couldn't help but consider that they were friends...at least, in some ways.

"You look different," He observed, not taking his eyes off the road as he drove. "You're not wearing one of your skirts," He explained. "You look...well, like a normal teenage girl," He said. "And I don't like it," he shook his head.

"You don't think I-"

"I think you look amazing, Rachel, but this isn't you. It's not the girl I know and-anyways, how come whenever you're not in school, you're dressed like...this," He asked softly.

"Because then I don't have to worry about the slushy facials. I'd rather not ruin my clothes," She explained. "In case you haven't noticed, some of my nicest outfits I wear to school are when I'm sure I won't be slushied that day," She said, crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry about that, alright?" He asked.

"Where are we going?" She asked, changing the subject off of his bullying.

"The mall," He shrugged.

She frowned, trying to figure out what he could have in store for her in order to make her change her mind about her surgery at the mall. She frowned slightly, looking at the handsome boy sitting next to her. The one with the shaved head, except for his mohawk-ed strip right down the center. The one with those beautiful, hazel eyes that dragged her right in until she thought she'd be stuck staring forever. The boy who was about a foot taller than her, with muscles that could easily hurt her, if he wasn't the type to be such a gentleman around girls.

He was the boy with the beautiful smile that made her want to smile right back-and know that she was the one who had earned that smile from him. He had this incredible singing voice that she loved to hear. His dancing was so incredible that she thrived to be his partner in group numbers.

And it was just so comfortable to be with him. She fit perfectly in his arms, and she loved how his chin could just rest on her head when she was being held close to his strong torso. He was everything she wanted in a guy-yet that wasn't enough for her. For some reason, she'd rather be with Finn Hudson, than with a guy who seemed to care about her so much.

That was why she found herself just as confusing as she found him.

"Rachel? We're here," He said, pulling open her door and helping her down.

She followed him into the mall, surprised that he was holding her hand as they walked. And that she wasn't getting those looks that she'd gotten when she was with Finn. When she was with him, boys would stare at her as if they wanted her. As if they wanted to date her and...other things. Girls would look at Finn as if they couldn't believe he was with a girl like _her. _Sometimes, if they didn't know about Finn's popularity, then Rachel was the one who was too good for him. When it was somebody for school, they were shocked that Finn was with that loser girl.

Instead, when she was with Puck, boys pointedly looked anywhere but at her, because they were afraid Puck would get angry and attack them for looking at _his _girl with that longing desire in their eyes. Girls looked at her with envious looks, and awed at the adorably cute couple. It made her feel good-as if she finally belonged to the golden couple. One of those perfect couples that people saw in movies that they wished they could be a part of.

Puck was also marveling at what was happening around him as he walked hand and hand with Rachel. He liked the feeling of being with a girl who was so beautiful, so talented, and so fun to be around.

Rachel teased him-for every little thing. But she didn't do it in a mean, cruel way. She did it in a fun way, as if they were actually friends. And that made Puck happy. Sure, he knew that he was breaking his promise to Finn-the promise he'd made to stay away from the beautiful girl that they both had such strong feelings for-but he honestly didn't care anymore.

If Finn was really his friend, then he should want Puck to be happy. Finn had Quinn, after all, and the two of them were very happy in their relationship. So why shouldn't Puck be allowed to have Rachel and have his own happiness with her? Didn't he deserve that opportunity.

He held her hand tighter as they walked towards the food court, hating the deal he'd made with Kurt. He'd give Rachel right to Kurt, and Kurt would take over from there. He wasn't happy about the arrangement, but he figured he'd have the ride home with her so grateful for what he and Kurt had done, that maybe he'd finally be able to tell her how he felt.

"Kurt?" Rachel asked. And then Kurt began his Barba Vention.

* * *

Rachel was more than a little bit shocked at how much work her fellow Glee Club members had put into this intervention to make her realize that she was beautiful just the way she was-the next Barbra Streisand. Of course, she was sure that most of the work had been done by Kurt, who was singing the Duck Sauce song to her and leading the flash mob, but it was still sweet. She was sure that Puck had also put in a lot of work-especially since he'd taken the near-impossible task of helping get the stubborn girl to come to the mall and at least attempt to listen to reason.

She grinned as she hugged Kurt Hummel, her best friend in the entire school, thanking him for all of the hard work she was sure he'd put into this for her. Then she turned to Brittany Pierce, who had also been dancing in the mob, thanking her as well. She hugged and thanked each member of the club in turn, before turning to Puck and hugging him, smiling a bit as he pulled her closer to him.

She really did love how perfectly she seemed to fit into his arms, and she didn't care if she'd already thought that countless times that day. She felt like she belonged there and she wouldn't change her mind until she met a boy who's arms wrapped around her to create a better fit than his already did for her. She'd never felt as comfortable in the arms of Finn Hudson or Jesse St. James. Noah Puckerman's arms just seemed to belong around her tiny little waist.

She waved goodbye to her friends as Puck wrapped a single arm around her waist, starting to direct her back towards the entrance they'd entered through, exiting the mall and walking towards his truck, as if he was in a hurry to get away from the rest of the group. She frowned a little, wondering what had come over the boy to make him want to flee their friends so badly.

But she knew better than to question him, no matter how quickly he was moving or how hard it was for her to try and keep up with him. She just kept trudging along, doing her absolute best not fall behind. He was clearly in a hurry.

And as much as it killed her to admit, she was sure he most likely had some sort of date that he was going on that was much more important than carting Rachel to and from the mall after giving her a pep talk that would most likely just inflate her head a little bit more and boost her confidence to the point of bursting at the seems.

Of course, in reality, Puck was just so worried and nervous about what he was about to admit, that he couldn't help but walk fast. It was just a nervous habit of his. He wished he could slow down and prolong the conversation that he knew needed to be said as soon as they reached the truck, but he couldn't.

He understood that he was probably hurting her and tiring her out as he walked as fast as he could, taking the longest strides his long legs would allow, but he didn't care. He couldn't help it. And he could only imagine the horrible things that he was sure she was coming up with for his reasoning for why he was in such a rush, and that just made him panic a little bit more and walk that much faster. He hated that stupid nervous habit, but he'd had it too long to try and delete it.

"We need to talk," Puck said, stopping at his truck, right at her door. She was standing with her back to it while he stood in front of her. She looked up at him with a confused look in her eyes, head tilted slightly to the side as a half grin formed on her face. She looked so beautiful and it made him even more nervous.

"What's the matter, Noah?" She asked. He sighed. He loved it when she said his name-his _real _name. It sounded so sweet and so right coming from her mouth. And he loved how soft and sweet it sounded. It was innocent, unlike Puck. Noah was a sweet guy who could be friends with a girl like Rachel Berry and could deserve her. But Puck? He was nothing but an arrogant bully who could never have any real friends in his life, because he was selfish and would do whatever he had to in order to get what he wanted. After all, he was pretty much giving up his friendship with Finn in order to get with this girl in front of him. Well, maybe Noah and Puck had more in common than he thought.

"Nothing...I just...I need to tell you something," He said, licking his lips-yet another nervous habit he had. The only good part about this one was that it turned some girls on. Other girls, like Rachel, were disgusted by it, though, and made them think he was nothing more than a pervert who only wanted sex and their bodies.

"Well, I should have figured this was going to come along," She sighed, standing up and crossing her arms, cocking one hip out as she shook out her full mane of hair.

"What do you mean?" He gulped, nervous and worried that she could already know what he was about to say, and clearly be angered by it.

"Well, I expected that you'd have some sort of ulterior motive for doing such a kind and sweet gesture. And you do, don't you?" She wondered, her expression softening just a little bit.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," He said coyly with a smirk on his face.

"You don't know what ulterior motive means, do you?" She asked, laughing a little.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," He said, not wanting to admit his own stupidity to her. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair and relaxed a bit.

"Okay, what do you have to tell me?" She asked.

"Well, I can show you better than I can tell you," He winked.

"Oh?" She asked.

"Yeah," He grinned, placing a hand on her cheek as their eyes locked.

"And what's that?" She whispered, her voice low.

"Shush," He said, leaning in closer to her.

"I have to tell you something, too," She said softly as they moved in a little closer.

"What's that?" He mumbled.

"I can show you better than I can tell you," She teased, her voice a low, deep sound from the back of her throat-almost a purr-as they lips connected and they kissed, telling one another how they really felt for the first time. And from the intensity of the kiss, it was clear that they were both madly in love with one another in a way that only teenagers can be during their first love.


	2. Funk

**Moments That Matter  
A Puckleberry One Shot Series  
Funk**

Rachel Berry swallowed, running a hand nervously through her dark chocolate, wavy locks as Jesse St. James, her newest ex boyfriend, finished performing his song with his glee club, Vocal Adrenaline. He'd not only dumped her in the cruelest way possible-without really doing it at all-he'd also left the New Directions to return to Carmel, because he wanted to destroy her dreams of winning at regionals. She sighed as she watched them all cheer as they left the theater at McKinley, not even stopping to look back at the depressed girl sitting in the front row, all by herself with the rest of her club behind her.

Noah Puckerman was sitting directly behind Rachel with his arms crossed tightly across his chest. He did not like how Jesse had chosen to break up with Rachel-he wasn't a fan of big, extravagant, public break-ups. He preferred to keep his love life just a little bit more private, which would explain why most of the school still assumed that he was dating Quinn Fabray, his baby's mother. He shook his head in anger, clenching his fists as tightly as possible as Jesse smirked at Rachel before disappearing with the rest of his team. It sickened him to know that the boy had had to wait until so close to the competition to try and destroy Rachel's ego.

Rachel had been expecting this to happen of course. The signs had been there since her stupid little fantasy of thinking he'd actually forgive her for the music video she'd made with him, Puck, and Finn Hudson as her leading men. It had been a silly idea to make herself look like more of a bad girl, but Jesse had been showing signs of leaving her ever since that day, despite his claims that he just needed some time to get over the initial pain. He'd claimed to forgive her, but she knew that wasn't true.

Puck didn't care what reasons Jesse had been given to break up with Rachel. It was rude of him to do it in such a fashion, and he wanted revenge. He shared a look with his ex-best friend, Finn Hudson and nodded briefly. They'd be friends for a little while, while they worked to figure out a scheme to get revenge on Jesse and the rest of his ass hole friends. In the mean time, he would do everything in his power to cheer Rachel up.

Rachel crossed her arms, hearing everybody else in her club slowly getting up and walking away, leaving with their whispers of terror and fear of what would happen at regionals with a newly distressed Rachel Berry and a leading man who would never be able to match up to Jesse St. James skill level. She just sat there, frozen in her shocked state.

Puck stood up, walking out of his row and towards the girl, standing in front of her with a hand stretched out towards her. She looked up, slightly shocked to see him standing there, and he nodded, helping her to her feet as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started to guide her from the room.

Rachel couldn't believe that Puck-the Noah Puckerman who had bullied her for so long-was being so kind to her because of her break-up and humiliation in front of a group that pretty much hated her. Yet, there they were.

Puck was also a tad bit surprised at his, behavior, but he reasoned that he was doing whatever it would take for them to win, because a happy Rachel meant a Rachel who could perform to her best abilities.

Rachel looked up at her ex-flame and smiled.

Puck looked down at the short girl and grinned right back.

And that was how his decision to make her the happiest girl in the entire school began.

But, he didn't want to make her happy because of petty, silly reasons, that had to do with the stupid glee club that he didn't really care about. Instead, he had his own reasons for it.

He was offering to help her, to try and cheer her up-to make her happier than he'd seen her all year-because he loved the way she smiled. Her smile cheered him up, and it brightened her entire face, making her seem even more beautiful than she already was-yes, he was calling a girl beautiful, rather than hot.

As much as it pained Puck to admit it, he was in love with Rachel Berry. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved her. She was perfect, at least, in his eyes she was. She was beautiful-on top of being a hot Jew. She had talent, and a sense of humor. She also happened to be one hell of a kisser. And she was the girl who would make his mother proud of him, because she was a nice, Jewish girl, which was exactly what his mother wanted for him.

Rachel, meanwhile, was just one hundred percent confused at what was happening around her. There was no way that Puck was willing to help her. After all, he just wasn't that type of guy. He would have to have some sort of ulterior motive behind it, but she couldn't figure out what it was. He would benefit nothing from her by helping to cheer her up. He knew that already, after all, because they'd once dated, and he himself had said that they'd broken up strictly because of her refusal to let him get any further than making out. And she hadn't changed her mind about that one yet.

* * *

"This cheese smells funky," Rachel rolled her eyes, finding Mr. Shuester's latest attempt at an assignment utterly ridiculous. It was stupid to think that putting on funk numbers would get the members of New Directions out of their own funk that had been caused by Vocal Adrenaline, who had trashed their choir room with toilet paper the day before.

"That's because it's fromunda cheese!" Puck joked, leaning close to her and elbowing her playfully in the arm.

"Shut up, Puckerman!" She snapped, using the name she only called him when she was beyond pissed. Which she was. She wanted to win at regionals more this year than ever before, because now she had to show Jesse St. James that it didn't matter what he did to her. She could rise to the top and be better than him, no matter how much heartbreak she had to overcome in order to do so. She was destined to be a star, after all.

"Don't take it out on him that your boyfriend dumped you just like he dumped the rest of us," Santana Lopez barked, turning around and glaring at the girl.

"Back of, Satan-she's just annoyed that nobody's taking any of this shit seriously-me included. We should be, too, because if there's one thing that'll really bug that Jesse kid, it's seeing us win at Regionals with Rachel singing a duet with some other dude who's ten times hotter than him and with more talent," Puck glared at the Latino who he'd once had a thing for. He wasn't going to let anything interfere with his plan to win and annoy Jesse. Even if he and Finn had other plans in mind to get back at that idiotic St. Dick kid from Carmel high.

"And where are we going to find somebody like that?" Artie Abrams asked from his wheel chair, looking up at Puck from over his square framed glasses. Puck would be angry, if he could find it in his heart to be mean and cruel to a crippled kid, especially one as nice and funny as Artie, who he'd already bullied enough for both of their lifetimes.

"The only guy we have hotter than Jesse, besides Puck, is Mike," Mercedes Jones spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest and sighing. "And neither of them has the talent that Jesse has-except for Mike's dancing," she shrugged.

"Noah can sing like Jesse," Rachel muttered, but nobody was listening to her.

"If we want to beat Jesse, we need somebody just like Rachel-somebody born to perform, and the only one we have is Kurt," Tina Cohen-Chang shrugged, shaking her head. Her stutter had long been forgotten since joining glee and realizing she no longer needed to fake it to keep people away. She actually wanted to welcome people into her life. "And since we perform before Vocal Adrenaline, if we had a hot guy with Kurt's performing abilities-no offense, Kurt-we could make him jealous enough to put them in a funk right before their performance," She explained.

"I could do it!" Finn Hudson, Rachel's ex-flame spoke up. "Are you all forgetting about me? I know that I was kind of forgotten when Jesse was around, but he's gone now, and I could make him jealous when I perform with Rachel!" He said indignantly, rolling his eyes as his temper started to build. Puck rolled his eyes, wondering if there was a chair around for him to kick, like he typically did when he was angry.

"Noah could do it," Rachel muttered once again, but still, nobody listened to her.

"Who the hell could sing with Rachel and sound incredible-but also be insanely hot and make Jesse jealous so that he's in a funk for his performance?" Kurt Hummel muttered, shaking his head as he tugged at his hair. He was clearly distressed, as he was pretty much messing up the hair that he prided himself in.

"Um, since when did we decide that Rachel gets solos and duets just because she got dumped by our competition? That's a little unfair, isn't it?" Quinn Fabray asked in her bitchiest tone.

"We decided that when we realized that she was our best singer and we won sectionals because of her solo ballad and her lead duets. We decided that when she was the only one singing when everybody else was slacking off. We decided that when she was the only one with any talent that was worth anything in this god for saken club! Does that sound right to you? Or should I continue?" Puck snapped, whirling on the blonde.

"Can you all please just stop fighting?" Rachel asked softly. But everybody listened to her, for a change. "Thank you," She smiled, lifting her head up to face the rest of the glee club. "Now, as I was trying to say when you were all so busy arguing...well, Noah could the duet with me. His voice is quite lovely, and I think he's proven to us all that he has amazing dancing abilities. And, as Tina says, he's quite attractive enough to annoy Jesse enough to put him into a jealous funk before he performs his number," She spoke up. Nobody responded for a moment, but then Mr. Shue told her she was right.

* * *

"Thank you," Rachel spoke up the next morning, standing besides Puck at his locker.

"What?" He asked, turning around to face her, frowning in confusion.

"Thank you," She said again. "For standing up for me in glee the other day? I didn't get a chance to thank you for that, and, well, I heard about what you did to Vocal Adrenaline's tires," She said, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, well, the second one wasn't as much for you as it was for my own entertainment. And it backfired, since I've got to get a job now to pay it-"He stopped as Rachel held her hand out towards him. "What's this?" He wondered.

"It's for you...it's a check for three hundred dollars. I wasn't sure how much you needed to put in for the tires, but I felt bad, because this is mostly my fault, because I dated Jesse and-"She cut herself off, shaking her head as he took the check, staring at her in awe as she stood there.

"I needed three hundred..."He said softly. "Rachel, how the hell did you get this? We live in Lima-did you rob a bank or something?" He asked her. She shook her head. "Don't tell me your dads just gave you the money," He sighed. She nodded sheepishly. "For me, because I vandalized some cars?" He asked.

"I didn't exactly tell either of them why I needed the money. I just told them that it was for glee club reasons-which, in a way, it is. I mean, if you're working a part time job, it's less time you and Finn will have to rehearse. If you've got the three hundred, the only one who needs to earn the money is Finn-or you guys could just need to earn one hundred and fifty each, making you need to have less hours at-"

"You're freaking amazing, Berry," Puck observed, reaching out and pulling her close to him in a hug. "I could freaking kiss you right now," He told her, his hands on her waist as he held her at arms length. She blushed, lowering her head. "Rachel," He whispered. She looked up at him and he pulled her closer to him, leaning close and kissing her, right there in the middle of the hallway, where anybody could see the couple.

"I didn't give you the money so you'd kiss me," She rolled her eyes. "I was giving you the money solely for the purposes of the glee club, alright? Although, I do have to admit that you are the best kisser I've ever had any experience with, but I'm sure you already knew that-"She never got to finish that, because he grinned at her, leaning down and kissing her again, with the same amount of pent up passion their make-out sessions had had back when they were dating. She smiled, blushing as she looked down at the ground when he broke away, still holding her.

"I know why you gave me the money. I know why you gave it to me instead of Finn-or, at least, I hope I'm right. And I don't really want to know if I'm right or not, because it'll make this next sentence a little more awkward," He shrugged, pulling her a little bit closer to him and resting his forehead against her own. "I want you to be my girl, alright?" He asked her, a fierce intensity in his voice as he told her those words that had once been so dreadful for him to even imagine saying. She never answered him though. Instead, she reached up and kissed him.

"Does that answer your question?" Rachel asked, cocking an eyebrow up at him with a playful grin on her face as she looked up at him, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Well, I'm hoping that was a yes, because I'm going to take it as a yes, alright?" He said, a dopey grin on his face that could rival Finn's any day. The only real difference between them was the fact that his smile was adorable, while Finn's just made him appear to be an idiot. "Come on-you're officially Noah Puckerman's girlfriend," He grinned, wrapping an arm around her tiny waist as he led her away from the lockers and down the hallway.

"I never said that my answer was yes," Rachel teased him.

"Yeah, well, I don't exactly say no for an answer," He shrugged. "Besides, there's no way you could kiss like that and not want to be with me. It's just not possible, alright? And, I thought we already went over the whole arms thing? The fact that my guns are...'quite lovely' I believe you put it?" He wondered, teasing her.

"Are you doing this because you want to win Regionals, and think that by being my new boyfriend, I'll be happy and cheerful again, or are you doing this because you actually like me?" She wondered.

"I could ask you about the same question-I mean, are you doing this because you like me, or because you want to make Jesse jealous?" He shot back.

"Fair enough-let's just settle with both being together and liking one another, then?" She offered. He nodded.

* * *

"Rachel?" Mercedes Jones asked, jumping to her feet and racing towards the petite girl who had just entered the choir room, her hair full of egg shells, her white tee shirt drenched with the wet, runny liquid from the eggs that had been cracked over her head.

Normally, Puck would be impressed by a prank to this level-and he'd love the view of a wet tee shirt clinging to a girl's chest-but not when it was Rachel. Not when the girl standing there before him was _his _girl and she was so close to tears. Throughout all of the slushy facials that Puck had given her through the years, Rachel had never once cried. She'd never even once come close to crying. But right now, the tears were filling her eyes and it was clear that she'd already been crying before entering the room.

"Who did this?" Tina asked, running to meet the sad girl who was wrapped in Mercedes tight embrace. Rachel muttered a few unintelligible words, keeping her face buried in Mercedes shoulder and Puck noticed that Rachel's own shoulders were shaking, showing that she was crying, right there in front of everybody. "Jesse? All of Vocal Adrenaline? Aw, you poor thing," Tina sighed, joining in on the group hug that was forming between the three girls in the front of the room. Nobody else could understand Rachel's distressed words or answers, but Tina had been able to, and she'd translated.

"That's it-that Jesse St. Dick kid is dead meat. Nobody messes with Rachel but us!" Kurt declared, jumping to his feet as he crossed his arms and started to storm towards the front of the room, heading right towards the doorway. Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford were right in his wake.

"Rachel's a pain in the ass, but she's _our _pain in the ass," Artie declared, wheeling himself after the boys.

"I'm going to kill him," Puck muttered, clenching his hands together so hard that his knuckles began to turn white as his fists became tighter and tighter. "I'm going to kill him for messing with my girl. Nobody makes Noah Puckerman's girl cry and gets away with it. He's going to die, and I'm going to be the one to do it," He said, standing up so quickly that his chair fell backwards as he stormed towards the door, pushing towards the front of the pack and crashing right into Mr. Shuester as he entered the classroom, an oblivious smile on his face.

"What's going on?" He asked, noticing the angry boys standing in a huddle-each boy in the club, with the exception of Finn-and the depressed trio of girls standing by the piano while the two popular cheerleading best friends-Santana and Brittany Pierce-sat in their chairs, whispering furiously while Quinn Fabray sat there with a hardened smirk on her face. Finn Hudson was looking from the trio of crying girls to the group of angry males, as if to decide where he should go.

"Those Vocal Adrenaline losers messed with Rachel, and we're going to go get revenge," Puck growled, starting to push past him, only to be held back by the teacher-Puck was a bad ass, but he'd never hit a teacher.

"Violence is never the answer, Puck," The teacher sighed.

"It is when the question is what's the best way to mess that Jesse kid's face up!" Puck snarled a flash of anger that nobody had ever seen in him before flooding his eyes. He was angrier than he'd been during his fight with Finn over Quinn. They'd never seen the boy this mad before.

"No, guys-Mr. Shue's right," Rachel whispered. "We can kick Jesse's ass and all of his little friends' as well, but that's not going to do anything for us, except get us in trouble and most likely get us disqualified," Rachel shrugged, breaking away from her newfound best friends.

"So you're saying we should let them get away with this?" Mercedes asked her in shock.

"Of course I'm not saying that. That would be silly and stupid of me to say," Rachel shook her head. "Besides, I want to get them back just as much as everybody else here would like to," She shrugged.

"So what are you implying? What should we do to get back at them?" Kurt asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to face the only girl who could match him as a diva. While the two had always been rivals, they'd started to develop a friendship throughout this year, despite the fact that neither of them would go as fair as to actually admit that aloud to the other one. But the friendship was still there.

"I'm saying that we should get them back in the only way that can really hurt them. With music," Rachel smirked. Everybody began to protest at once, but she held a hand up, silencing them almost immediately. "Listen, I get that they have a ton of talent and all that jazz, but they're only hurting us with silly pranks that we can get over and start practicing. They aren't showing that they're better than us. But, they can't pull off a funk number-and I bet we can, because we've got the emotion behind it," She smirked. "So, who's with me to show that we're the better Glee club?" She shrugged. Everybody cheered.

* * *

Rachel and Puck were the lead vocals for their rendition of Stevie Wonder and Syreeta's _To Know You Is To Love You. _They performed the song on Vocal Adrenaline's very own stage, and Jesse was front and center, with his new girlfriend, Gisele sitting next to him. Yet, Jesse's angry, jealous eyes never left Rachel at all during the entire performance, which bothered Gisele almost as much as it bothered Puck when he noticed it. Rachel, of course, didn't notice because of her intense connection to the performance which nothing could break, because she always performed to be the very best.

The song began with Puck alone, in center stage, with the other glee boys lined up behind him. Puck sang the song, turning towards Rachel who was slowly dancing towards him, teasing him as she flirted and danced with the other boys on her way towards him, the other glee girls following behind her, partnering up with the boys as they danced along behind her. By the time she reached Puck, the music changed, as that song was over, and _Give Up The Funk _began, allowing for the entire club to perform, their well rehearsed dance moves allowing them for two perfect funk numbers.

When they finished, Puck pulled Rachel in for a long kiss, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could as the other New Directions members giggling and cheered, patting the couple on the back as they celebrated their way from the stage and outside of the building, towards their cars. Jesse stood up, glaring at the stage as Puck broke apart from Rachel, picking her up bridal style as he waved goodbye to the Carmel students and walked away, carrying a giggling and blushing Rachel Berry with him until they reached his truck, where they were alone, as the other members of their club had already left.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked, her cheeks red with embarrassment, but also flushed from the intense kiss Puck had given her. She knew how Puck was about keeping their relationship private-nobody in the glee club had known that they were officially together, despite his announcement that she was his girl after Vocal Adrenaline's horrible egging incident. But now, with that kiss, everybody knew and it was going to be the newest gossip.

"That was me marking my territory. I wasn't all that crazy about how he was checking you out, despite the fact that you were dancing around with me. I mean, come on, is it that hard to believe that you'd pick me?" He laughed, leaning down and kissing her neck, giving it a quick nibble as she shrieked, pushing him off of her. In the past few weeks, she'd realized that she didn't just like Puck. She felt something much stronger.

But, after claiming her love for Finn and being rejected, because he'd realized he could date other girls-who were hotter and more worthy of his time, and after being dumped by Jesse in such a cruel fashion that had made her feel as if she was worthless and not able to be loved, she'd decided that she would never again claim her love for another boy until she was absolutely certain that he loved her as well.

Of course, it was getting harder and harder for her to keep this deal she'd made with herself. After all, he was making it quite clear that he felt stronger emotions for her than he had for any other girl he'd been with before, and the mere fact that he'd made their relationship so public showed her how much she meant to him.

But she still couldn't bring herself to say those three words and those eight letters that would give him enough power to break her heart and tear her into a thousand tiny little pieces, destroying her soul and shattering her character. She'd been through enough heartbreak for one year.

"Rachel...are you alright? Should I not have done that? I just couldn't resist myself-you just look so hot in those tiny little shorts," He teased her, placing his hands on her waist.

"Noah," She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she smiled up at him. "I...I'm just thinking, alright, that's it," She shrugged it off.

After all, she'd almost been about to reveal the truth to him, and that wasn't right. That wasn't how she was playing her love games anymore. She had new rules that she was going to follow from now on.

Except, she really wasn't.

"Actually, I have to tell you something. I..."She sighed, shaking her head, unable to say the words.

"I know," He grinned at her. She smiled up at him and kissed him, not caring that this was such a _Star Wars _moment.


	3. Silly Love Songs

**_Moments That Matter  
A Glee One Shot Series  
Silly Love Songs  
A/N: I'll admit-this story happens to be _very _Samchel-like, but it just kind of happened..._**

Rachel Berry stormed out of the choir room-something she was really quite good at by now. It was probably about her hundredth time doing so during a glee rehearsal that year, actually. But, this time she was not storming off because she didn't get a solo. She wasn't angry with Finn Hudson or Santana Lopez or Quinn Fabray. This time she wasn't feeling insulted and she wasn't angry with anybody in the club-well, not _really _angry anyways. She was more angry with herself, because she couldn't believe that she'd actually been so stupid. She'd always thought she was a smart girl. BUt apparently she'd been wrong.

She's just assumed that he would be her happily ever after. But now she knew that he was nothing more than a once upon a time. A girl like her believed in fairy tales. She thought that she was some sort of modern day princess that stared as the heroine, only to be rescued by a handsome prince who would do anything to be with her. The type of guy who only wanted her.

She'd always wanted the type of relationship where it was like volleyball. Where the guy said that the girl was his and the girl claimed that the boy was hers, and everybody backed off. But, not it was clear that it wasn't a real relationship. At least, not in her life anyways. Not for a girl as plain, ordinary, and annoying as her. She wasn't anything special, after all. Just a girl with a talent for performing that could help lead the glee club to a victory.

_Stop liking him. Stop liking him. Stop liking him. Stop liking him. Stop liking him. Stop liking him. Stop liking him. Stop liking him. _She repeated that over and over again in her head, like it was her mantra. But, all she was left with was the feeling that it was easier to say those words than to actually do them.

Oh, sure, her years of acting training had taught her how to pre_tend _like she was over him. Nobody had realized that she'd loved the guy since sophomore year, anyways. But, acting couldn't teach her how to actually get over. He would always be on her mind and she would always be thinking about his beautiful hazel eyes and the lovely, midnight brown colored hair he had that felt so silky and smooth when she'd run her hands through it.

_I hope she breaks your heart, _She thought to herself as she lowered herself to the ground in a corner by the large windows in that lockerless, classroom-less little area where so many students went to meet up. It was a make-out place. It was a meeting place. It was meant for break-ups and gossip. And, when Rachel was upset after storming out of a rehearsal, it was a place where she could sit and cry, without anybody bothering her or questioning her reasoning behind it.

Rachel was the type of girl who could surprise people with all that she kept inside. Sometimes she was happy. Sometimes she was angry. Sometimes she lied and said she was happy, when all she was really doing was crying. That was what she'd been doing since he'd brought _her _into everybody's life.

"Rachel?" the teary eyed brunette looked up at the tall blonde haired boy who was standing in front of her. She knew what was going on between his girlfriend and Rachel's ex boyfriend-the one that she didn't still harbor feelings for. "Are you alright?" He asked, leaning down and sitting down besides her.

"Do you know how much it hurts when the person you love doesn't love you back?" She wondered. Of course, he probably would never know the pain she felt, because Noah Puckerman was the boy who had broken her heart for the first time. He was the first person to hurt her, and therefore, he would always be the person who had hurt her the most.

"I don't understand...Finn wasn't doing anything today, at least, not anything that could make you upset or lead you to think he liked somebody else," Sam Evans frowned, a confused little arch forming between his eyebrows as they scrunched up together. In a lot of ways, Sam was even dumber than Finn, but he was nicer, and he was much funnier, in his own unique, dorky sort of way.

"I'm not upset about Finn," Rachel shook her head. "I'm upset about that song Noah just sang," She explained.

"Noah?" Sam asked. "You mean Puck?"

"His real name is Noah," Rachel sighed.

"No, his real name is Puck," Sam frowned.

"Do you really think that his name is Puck Puckerman?" Rachel asked, a sad smile forming on her face.

"No, but it got you to smile," He shrugged, his own face brightening up as she began to giggle. "Now, why are you upset that Puck sang that song to Lauren?" He asked her, reaching out and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.

"Because she doesn't want him the way I do," Rachel said after a few moments of silence. "But he wants her, and it pains me to know that he chose her, but then my brain keeps saying that one day, I'll find somebody better. Only to have my heart say that I don't really care, because the only person I want, is him," She sighed.

"Well, if it's any consolation, you and Puck do belong together. It's a movie ready relationship," He said.

"Because he's the bad boy and I'm the good girl?" She asked with a sly smile, a forced giggle being released as he spoke.

"There we go-you're laughing. Hey, I like you! You think I'm funny," He said, brightening up a bit.

"I do not," She protested.

"Yes you do!" He argued, reaching out and tickling her waist. She giggled, gasping for him to stop between her bursts of laughter.

And, in that moment it didn't matter that the girl he was with was obviously cheating in him and it didn't matter that the boy she wanted to be with was into somebody else. Because, for once, they had a true friend.

* * *

It was amazing really, how somebody could break one's heart, only to have them still love that person with all of the little pieces that remained. Yet, it was often the words that were left unsaid that broke the most hearts. Which was why Noah Puckerman wished that he was better at telling people how he felt. In all honesty, that song hadn't been a good pick to sing to a girl that he was trying to win over-but he didn't really care, because he only wanted to 'woo' her in order to make another girl jealous. The girl that he really did love, who didn't love him.

Yet, that plan had failed, because there at his dream girl, sitting in the arms of that new transfer kid with the blonde hair that everybody said had to be highlighted, or at least died to be that color. Yet, there was Rachel Berry, giggling and laughing as Sam Evans tickled her and whispered things into her ear.

He'd thought that when she'd stormed out of the choir room, it had been because his plan had worked and she was jealous. But apparently she'd only stormed out for a little rendezvous with her new beau.

No, there was no such thing as fairy tales. Just as there was no such sing as happily ever afters. No matter how much he wanted to become her prince charming and sweep in, taking her from that blonde dragon's arms and telling her that the place she really belonged was with none other than him.

_If my heart was sadder than a song...would you listen to me then? _He wondered as he wiped his eyes-not because he was crying. Those damned hallways were just too dusty and he'd gotten something in his eyes. Anyways, he turned around as he wondered what it would take to prove to Rachel that she belonged with none other than him. He sighed as he walked away, heading towards the exit of the school. He couldn't watch the happy couple any longer. It was killing him.

He was finally dealing with that heartbreaking moment that came with realizing that the one person that was loved by him more than anybody else in the world, found somebody else to love.

He understood that he wasn't the absolute best for her, but he was the absolute best that he could be, given his circumstances.

"I know you don't like me very much," Artie Abrams said, startling him as he turned around to hear where that voice had come from.

"Don't take that one to heart, Wheels. I don't like anybody," He said coldly, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "What do you want from me?" He asked.

"Well, I figured that something must be going on, because you sang a love song to one girl, and then hurried after a different girl after she stormed out," He shrugged. "It just didn't line up to me, but apparently I'm the only way observant enough to realize what was happening. You didn't really want to sing your love song to Lauren, did you?" He asked. Puck ignored him. "You wanted to sing it to Rachel, but you were afraid she'd reject you, right?" He wondered.

"Why am I still alive? Why doesn't anybody just kill me gently?" He muttered, turning around and punching one of the lockers by him so hard he could see the dent he'd made with his fist. Artie winced at the sound and the sight of his bent locker.

"Do you really think you've got it that bad? Just because you're too afraid to admit you like a girl?" He wondered, staring up at the strong athlete before him. "At least you know she cares-why else would she leave after you sang to somebody else?" Artie wondered. "You could be stuck like me, confined to a chair. I'm lucky I've got Brittany, but it's fairly obvious that she's got other choices who are better than me. She's just too sweet and naive to realize she cared about at least one of them more than she cares about me," Artie explained with a shrug.

"I just never thought that it would hurt this much," He said, lowering his head, his voice low. He hated the sound of weakness in his voice, but he couldn't help it.

Besides, he knew that Artie would never judge him. He wasn't like that. Artie was a real friend.

"You've got feelings for her. If you're such a strong, bad-ass guy, why can't you tell her about them?" He asked, looking up from over his glasses.

"Feelings? I hate them. I hate the fact that I have them towards her even more, and that's why i pretend I don't. I mean, she's a gleek-the biggest one out of all of you guys, but...she's just so different," Puck sighed, shaking his head.

"Rachel isn't like any of us," Artie argued. "She's got talent and she's got the drive to get her out of this hell hole. Besides that, well, it's obvious why you'd like her. She's got a body that could break necks, and she's beautiful," He shrugged.

"Hey-back off," Puck warned, a playful smile on his face. "I've already got to deal with Evans trying to move in on," He said, growing serious again.

"I'll help you win her over," Artie offered.

"Let's go," Puck said, pushing from the lockers and wheeling Artie out of the school and towards his truck.

He and Artie may have had a sort-of friendship when he'd first gotten out of juvie, but now their friendship was for real, because he had something on the line that was more important than not returning to that dreadful place. If he didn't figure something out soon, he would risk losing Rachel for good.

* * *

"Rachel, can I ask you something?" Sam Evans asked as he slid into the seat across from her during lunch the next day. Rachel had taken to eating in the library after her break-up with Finn-her only friend left was Mercedes Jones, after all, and Mercedes had a bond with Tine Cohen-Chang, who was slightly annoyed with Rachel for cheating on Finn so horridly. Rachel would never make Mercedes pick sides, though, so she opted to eat by herself instead.

Today, though, Sam had hunted her down and decided to join her. But, when she looked up to face him, she was knew that something was wrong, and the teasing joke she'd been about to make about his ability to find the library and her shock at the fact became stuck on the tip of her tongue as she nodded, gesturing for him to sit down.

"Quinn and Finn are together. Quinn just let me know," He whispered, not looking at her.

"I know," She said softly.

Sam studied the brunette, not angry that she'd hidden it from him. If she had told him before they'd started to bond, he most likely wouldn't have believed her, because he'd listened to Quinn's wicked lies about how awful and dreadful the girl was, always working and scheming to break up Quinn and her newest boyfriend. And when they'd become friends, Rachel had had more pressing matters to concern herself with than Sam's desperate, movie-worthy excuse for a romance.

After all, it wasn't her place to tell him about a cheating girlfriend. It wasn't anybody's place to tell him that, because nobody should ever have to be told that their girlfriend was cheating on him with some other guy-especially a guy who had sworn up and down that he was into Rachel Berry.

Sam had had a pretty shitty life since moving to Ohio. His parents had blown through most of their money in buying a house that was way to expensive for their income. Then, his dad had been laid off and they'd had the house taken from them, after they'd sold off most of their positions. Sam had even had to pawn his guitar, which was one of his prized possessions. His family had been forced to move into a shitty hotel, and he was pretty much raising his brother and sister. He'd found a little bit of happiness, when he was playing football, but Finn had stepped in and taken his starting possession, with the plan to have Artie play on the team instead. Then, Sam had gotten a girlfriend, making him think he wasn't a total loser, because Quinn Fabray was gorgeous and popular-the total package. And yet again, Finn had stepped in and ruined things for him.

"Finn's a jack ass," Sam muttered. "He got mad at you for cheating-which it wasn't even really cheating, because you guys were in a fight, and it's not like you slept with him...you just made out with him, because he slept with some other girl and lied about it. And then, he goes and does the same thing to me," He rolled his eyes, marveling at how his observation caused one of those rare little giggle fits to begin from Rachel Berry.

Who really was quite beautiful, if he was being honest. She had long, dark hair that fell in a glossy curtain down her back with deep, dark eyes that pulled a person right in. Her face was beautiful in an old fashion Broadway singer type of way, and her body managed to remain hot despite her height and extreme skinniness.

He couldn't help but lean across the table and kiss her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I...it's just-has anybody ever told you before that you're sort of beautiful?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he studied her.

"No," She whispered, lowering her head and blushing slightly.

"Well, somebody should have told you before," He said. "Anyways, I've decided to screw Finn-figmentely, of course-"

"You mean figuratively?" Rachel corrected.

"Whatever! Anyways, I'm going to help you and Puckerman get back together, because that's really going to bug Finn. He might have stolen my girlfriend, but I can tell by the way he looks at you that he's one hundred percent still-"

"Aw, already moving in on my sloppy seconds, man hands?" Quinn Fabray teased, flipping her blonde curls over her shoulder as she skipped through the library, passing by the table where Rachel and Sam sat, a confident, Queen-Bitch smirk already located on her face as she glared at the pair. "Didn't know love happened between Gleeks and Sci-fi dorks," She shrugged as she disappeared.

"Well, people are going to say we're in love," Rachel shrugged. Sam looked confused, so she went on to explain. "She's going to start the rumor mill now, and everything just going to go down hill from there," She explained carefully, doing her best to use smaller words, as she'd always had to do with Finn, so she wasn't confusing the boy who had his own dorky quirks, but no actual brains to prove that he was, in fact, a total dork.

"Well, that could always help our cause...but I was thinking we could sing a duet to really-"

"Oh, yay!" Rachel cheered, clapping her hands together excitedly. "I've got the perfect song! It's from_ Oklahoma!" S_he exclaimed excitedly as her entire expression brightened as she stared at him.

"What's the state is was-"

"Not a state," Rachel giggled. "It's a musical about-well, never mind that, but it's a musical, and there's a duet between the two leads where they sing _People Will Say We're In Love, _and the irony is that they act like they hate one another, when they really do love one another. When Noah and I dated last year, we watched the show together, so he'll understand the irony-even if it's not actually true between us," She shrugged.

_Well, it's not true for one of us, anyways, _Sam thought to himself as he agreed with the girl. He'd do anything to keep that excitement in her face. She just seemed so happy, and he loved that he was the one who had gotten her that way. And he would hate to be the one to take away that happiness.

* * *

"_Payphone?" _Puck asked, raising his eyebrows as he studied Artie later that day, as they sat in Puck's room, going over song ideas to sing for Rachel.

In all honesty, Artie's plan was genius. To sing a song to Rachel, when they were alone together and involve some choreography that would include her. The performance would be what would grab Rachel's attention and make her realize that she really wanted to be with Puck, as much as he wanted to be with her, and it would ensure that she knew that his feelings were honest. Puck didn't doubt anything when it came to Artie's plan.

Except for the song choice. He was actually thinking that it would have been better if he, Artie, and one of the other boys got together and sang _Hey Kendra-_changed to _Hey Rachel-_from that Broadway show _Thirteen-_to publicly ask her out and make her realize that he didn't care about other people's opinions.

BUt, Artie was the smart guy. Artie was the one who had managed to get Brittany Pierce to fall for him and somehow wrap her around his pinky finger. That meant he had skill with the girls, especially when it came to making them come back after a disasterous first attempt at a relationship. So, while Puck prided himself on being the sex shark, he would allow Artie Abrams to be the lady guru, expert on all things related to relationships, because, everybody knew that Puck didn't do shit like that.

Except for Rachel-but that was different, because when he was with her, he was no longer Puck the bad ass. He was Noah, the sweet, Jewish kid who loved his mother and would do anything for his family.

Puck had lots of other options that he thought would make more sense in trying to win a girl back than the newest Maroon 5 hit. He was actually debated singing that song _Musical Soulmate _by that Mark Salling guy. Even that old Ray J song _One Wish _would probably make Rachel weak in the knees more than a Maroon 5 hit.

Actually...speaking of older songs...that Neyo song, _Miss Independent _would make a perfect song choice.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Artie asked him removing his glasses and wiping them off on the hem of his sweater vest. If Artie's plan worked for him, he was going to have to teach that kid how to dress like a stud.

"Actually, I was thinking that I could sing that Neyo song-_Miss Independent," _Puck admitted, looking up at Artie with his head still lowered. He didn't know why he found discussing music with Artie so weird, but he was slightly embarrassed about what Artie would think of his choices. After all, Artie had been the original male lead in the glee club, and Puck was just the same nobody he'd always been without a single solo.

"That could work...and you could make it look like you were just apologizing to Lauren for the last song, so you could sing it in front of everybody, you know?" Artie said, nodding as his wheels started turning-oh, the irony-as a new plan began to form. "And then, it would surprise everybody when you reveal that you're singing to Rachel," Artie went on.

"You actually think it's a good idea?" Puck asked, shocked at Artie's eagerness to agree with him.

"Well, let's consider what we know about Rachel Berry..."Artie rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Puck's stupidity. "Listen, when you're singing a song about a girl, it needs to either be about her or your relationship. In all honesty, that song you sang to Lauren summed her up perfectly-it's just insulting, because, well, she's fat and that's what the song was saying," Artie shrugged off the ending insult of his assessment that had started out so politely.

"Damn, the cripples got a knack for insults," Puck shook his head as he reached up and high fived the guy. "Now, after we finish with getting Rachel and I together-I'm giving you a make-over, because the sweater vests with the biker gloves aren't working. The gloves are cool-but the sweater vest? Totally dorkifies them," Puck shrugged.

"Fair enough," Artie nodded.

* * *

"Sam and I have decided to sing our song for the Valentine's day assignment together. As most of you may have heard, there are some pretty nasty rumors going around about Sam and me, and this song is meant to-"Rachel began to explain her solo in typical Rachel fashion, starting to bore most of the glee club, except for a glaring Quinn Fabray who did not want her ex-boyfriend singing with her current boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, a scowling Finn Hudson who couldn't believe Sam was moving in on yet another one of his exes, and a jealous Noah Puckerman who thought his plan was going to be ruined with this one duet.

"Ray," Sam said, making Puck's eyes narrow at his pet name for her, "Why don't we just let the song speak for itself?" He asked, an arm wrapping itself around her tiny waist and giving her a tight squeeze.

"Well, I suppose you're right," Rachel nodded in agreement, sighing as she always did when she'd been proven wrong.

"Aren't I always?" Sam teased her, unwrapping his arm from her slowly, his hand grazing her ass as it made its way back to his side slowly, Rachel sneaking a glance up towards him as he looked away from her pointedly. Puck's fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white as he watched the _happy c_ouple marvel in one another's cuteness and their adoration towards one another. It sickened him, in every single way imaginable.

"Anyways, Sam and I will be singing a song from _Oklahoma," _Rachel began, only to be cut off by Sam once again. But her eyeroll wasn't one of anger as it normally was when she was interrupted. And she giggled, smiling slightly at the fact that he'd stopped her speech for his own stupid comment.

"Which is a musical, not the state its from-just in case any of you were wondering," Sam said brightly.

"Anyways-we'll be singing _People Will Say We're In Love _by Laurey and Curly, from the aforementioned musical," She went on to say, nodding at Brad to start the music, and then the song began, killing Puck with each note.

_"Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours?" _Rachel sang, her body tilted towards Sam with an angry glare on her face and her arms crossed across her chest.

_"Why do the neighbors gossip all day behind their doors?" _Sam sang, his arms crossed as well as he glared down at her.

_"I know a way to prove what they say it quite untrue/Here is the gist-a practical list of don't fer you/Don't throw bouquets at me, don't please my folkds too much/Don't laugh at my jokes too much-people will say we're in love," _She uncrossed her arms and turned around, walking away from him, only to turn around and face him as he cut in with his next line.

_"Laugh at your jokes-"_

_"Don't sigh and gaze at me, your sighs are so like mine/You eyes mustn't glow like mine-people will say we're in love/Don't start collecting things, give me my rose and my glove/Sweetheart, they're suspecting things-people will say we're in love!" _She cut him off, walking back towards him.

_"Some people claim that you are to blame as much as I/Why do you take the trouble to bake my fav'rite pie/Grantin' your wish, I carved our initials in that tree/Just keep a slive of all the advice you give so free/Don't praise my charm too much/Don't look so vain with me/Don't stand in the rain with me/People will say we're in love!" _He said, ticking things off on his finger as if counting and gesturing towards the doorway at the part about the tree. _"Don't take my arm too much/Don't keep your hand in mine/Your hand feels so grand in mine-people will say we're in love," _He sang, shrugging her hand off of his arm and then going to pull his hand from her own, only to replace their grasp together. _"Don't dance all night with me/Till the stars fade from above/They'll see it's alright with me/People will say we're in love," _He finished the song after a quick little dance number between them, giving her a twirl before the final note.

After this performance, Rachel wasn't the one to get up and storm out. Instead, it was Puck.

"Is this going to become a normal occurrance after each of them sings from now on?" Mercedes wondered as Rachel turned around and hurried after Puck, leaving a sighing Sam.

"No-it's all going to be fine now," Sam said sadly, making his way towards the chairs.

* * *

Rachel entered the auditorrium, which was where she'd been so sure Puck had entered, only to find it deserted. She sighed as she walked up onto the stage, where she'd always felt so comfortable, dropping the the ground and sitting there alone. Until she heard the music start to play from a familiar acoustic guitar. She turned around to see Puck standing in the shadows, his face tilted down as he focused on the instrument in his hands as he started to sing along with the soft, gentle notes that were coming from the Secondhand Serenade song.

_"Speak with your tongue tied, I know that you're tired/But I just want to know, where you want to go/I may be sad but I'm not weak/ This situation is bleak and your puffy eyes never lie/Your tears come from inside/Until Sunday I'll be waiting for an answer/I guess that yesterday's not good enough for you/You know that I hate this song-you know that I hate this song, because it was written for you. Drown your fears with me, I'm feeling real sorry/Your glossy eyes don't need the sadness they have seen/But you're way too deep to swim back up again/But somehow I can't find, the moment you said goodbye/Until Sunday, I'll be waiting for an answer/I guess that yesterday's not good enough for you/You know that I hate this song-you know that I hate this song/Because it was written for you. This is becoming a problem, I'm hurting-it's unfair/But somehow your words, they way that I heard are haunting me/You're under my skin, you're breaking in/And the tasteless fights that filled out nights/Are starting to cave in/You're under my skin-you're breaking in/And if Sundays what it takes to prove, I have nothing else to loose," _He finished the song, cutting off the last chorus, and darted from the room, not once looking at her.

Rachel sighed as she sat there, completely alone this time, trying to figure out how she could have broken the heart of the boy she loved without even realizing that it had been hers to break.

"Rach?" Mercedes asked, walking into the room from the entrance from the choir room. "I just saw Puck come racing out of here...what's going on?" She wondered.

"He liked me too," She whispered.

"So what's the problem?" Mercedes wondered.

"I'm not so sure that I felt that way about Noah anymore," She said.

"You think you have feelings for Sam, don't you?" Mercedes sighed.

It was strange how she and Mercedes had started out as enemies, only to later become best friends. The reasoning had been quite simple, really-because they were just so alike. And that was why Mercedes could understand Rachel's feelings so well at this moment. And, like a good friend, rather than a jealous solo competitor, she was going to do her best to help her out.

"Yes," Rachel admitted.

"Well, I know how you get when you like a guy, Rachel, and I hate to say this, but how you act around Sam doesn't show me that you're into him. But, I don't think you like Puck either. I think you're finally in love, and I think you know it. So, my advice is for you to go and tell the boy you really love how you feel, before it's too late," Mercedes advised, sitting down besides her as Rachel stood up, shaking her head. It wasn't that easy. She was afraid of love. And that's when her original song choice came back to her, and she started to sing-her best form of communication.

"_If there's a prize for rotten judgement, I guess I've already won that/No man is worth the aggravation, that's ancient history-been there, done that!" _She sang, a strange bitterness coming over her as Mercedes stood up and joined in with her.

"_Who'd'ya think you're kidding/He's the earth and heaven to you/Try to keep it hidden/Honey, we can see right through you/Girl, ya can't conceal it/We know how ya feel and/Who you're thinking of," _Mercedes belted out.

_"No chance-no way-I won't say it, no no," R_achel protested.

_"You swoon, you sigh/Why deny it?" _

_"It's too cliche/I won't say I'm in love/I thought my heart had learned its lesson/It feels so good when you start out/My head is screaming get a grip girl/Unless you're dying to cry your heart out," _Rachel sang, her eyes focusing on the figure who had just entered the room, unsure of exactly who the boy was.

_"You keep on denying/Who you are/And how you're feeling/Baby, we're not buying/Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling/Face it like a grown up/When ya gonna own up/That ya got-got-got it bad," _Mercedes went on.

_"No chance! No way! I won't say it, no-no!" _

_"Give up, give in-check the grin, you're in love,"_

_"This scene won't play, I won't say I'm in love!"_

_"You're doing flips/Read our lips/You're in love,"_

_"You're way off base/I won't say it/Get off my case/I won't say it!"_

_"Girl don't be proud, it's okay-you're in love," _Mercedes sang as she shook her head, going back to the choir room and leaving Rachel there alone with her mysterious stranger.

"_At least out loud...I won't sat I'm in love," R_achel finished the song, with a sad whisper attached at the end. "With Noah."

And, with that final whisper, her mysterious stranger started to make his way towards the stage, and Rachel grinned when she could make out who it was. She jumped from the stage, running to meet him, jumping into his arms and wrapping him in a hug.

"I love you, too," Puck whispered to her, kissing her.


	4. Special Education

**_Moments That Matter  
A Glee Collection of One Shots  
Special Education _**

"Well, maybe it's because we all just pretend to like you, when, in reality, nobody really does," Santana Lopez said bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at Rachel Berry who was standing in front of her with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, glaring right back at the exotic beauty in the form fitting cheerleading uniform. Rachel waited a second, hoping that Mercedes Jones, who she'd assumed had become a good friend of hers, would come to her defense. Or, that her boyfriend, Finn Hudson, would defend her as well, but nobody did. The only person who would actually defend her to the Lima Heights resident was Kurt Hummel, who had transferred schools a few months ago due to the bullying.

Rachel stood her ground though, not taking her eyes off of Santana and her proud exterior not wavering. She wasn't going to let the Latino walk all over her-not anymore. Unlike Kurt, despite his very good reasons, she would not allow the bullying to chase her from the school. She wouldn't be a doormat. So, she clenched her fists and gulped, opening her mouth to fire back a well thought out come back for the girl, only to stop when the most unexpected voice filled the room.

"That's not true," Noah Puckerman said softly, all eyes turning to him as the two girls' heads whirled around, their jaws dropping in amazement at the residential bad ass defending the school's biggest loser. "I actually kind of like her," He shrugged, keeping his hands in the pockets of his letterman jacket. Santana snapped her mouth shut and stormed from the room, dragging Brittany Pierce, her best friend, along with her, pushing Rachel roughly as she passed by the petite girl. Rachel stood there, opening and closing her mouth as she tried to figure out how to best respond. And Finn Hudson, the reason for the fight in the first place, whirled around and glared at Puck who gave him another shrug with a sheepish smile on his face, his eyebrows raised as if to question what the big deal was.

"She's _my _girlfriend," Finn glared, standing up to his full six foot, three inches, taking the step and a half so that he was standing in front of the mohawked boy. "_My _girlfriend, not yours, got that?" He said, crossing his arms as he looked down at his ex-best friend, an angry glare on his face as it started to turn red-redder than it had ever been before. He was even angrier than he'd been upon finding out that Puck was the real father of Quinn Fabray's baby, despite her claims and the fact that _Finn _was her boyfriend. And at that point, he'd even tackled Puck to the ground and started throwing punches.

"Well, maybe you should have stood up for her then," Puck said with his bad-ass, arrogant smirk on his face as he stood up. Despite the fact that he was three inches shorter than Finn, who was a full foot taller than Rachel, he was much stronger and could easily take him in a fight. Especially when his motivation was worth it. "You know, I stood by when you were acting like a punk that didn't deserve Quinn-when you were running around kissing Rachel and taking her on dates, leading her on, remember that? But, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm not going to be Mr. Nice guy anymore if it means you're going to have sex with other girls and then lie to your girlfriend about it. Not if it means you think you can get away with letting her get insulted. I heard what you said to her, when Santana and Brittany made fun of her clothes and her talent-not cool, okay?" Puck glared, shoving Finn back. "Now get out of my face before I do something we're both going to regret," He advised.

"I kicked your ass the last time we fought. I can do it again," Finn said confidently, but his glare was wavering. He was no longer as sure of himself as he'd been before. And Puck knew it. It was a sign of weakness that one would never see from the star running back-number 20 on the football team. It wasn't wise to show Puck one's weaknesses though, because he never forgot them, and he always used them to his advantages.

"Well, that clears things up a little bit," Quinn Fabray spoke up loudly. "I mean, it only makes sense that they're really fighting because of what happened with _me _last year, right? Who would expect them to fight over _her?" _the blonde, five foot six girl asked brightly.

"Um, hey, queen of the bitches?" Mercedes spoke up, standing up to her full height-while it was the same as Rachel's height, it seemed rather more intimidating by the strong, slightly larger girl. "I hate to break it to you, but they _are _fighting over Rachel, whether you want to admit it or not. Because, in case you haven't notices, Finn dumped your sorry, cheating ass and Puck doesn't want anything to do with you now that the baby's all good and taken care of-thanks to _Rachel," _She smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They just-"

"Quinn? Do us all a favor and shut up, alright? This has nothing to do with you. It's got to do with FInn being an inconsiderate jack ass who wanted to get back at you for sleeping with me, so he slept with Santana-who was the _only _girl willing to sleep with him, and then lied to Rachel about it. She's not mad that you slept with Santana, moron! She's mad that you down right lied to her about it!" Puck snapped, pushing past Finn and storming off, taking Rachel's hand in his and pulling her off with him, muttering something along the lines of, "Come on, I'm taking you home-you don't need to be around these idiots any longer," as he dragged her from the choir room and into the hallway.

"JACK ASS!" Finn snapped, kicking the chair in front of him.

"Wow, who would have seen that one coming," Mercedes rolled her eyes at the predicaticality of Finn's actions-he seemed to always kick chairs when he was angry.

* * *

"I want you to hear a song I've been working on," Puck announced as he sat on Rachel's bed. It was probably the only time the two were sitting there where they hadn't made out or even come close to making out since sophomore year when they'd dated. But, Puck was purposefully putting his distance between the two. Part of the reason was because he didn't want to steal yet another one of Finn's girlfriends, or help another one of his girlfriends cheat on him. But the main reason was that he didn't want to be Rachel's differ. There was no way in hell that he would allow himself to be Rachel Berry's rebound for Finn Hudson. It wasn't how he'd planned their relationship to go.

"Yay!" She said dryly. "Go ahead-maybe a song will cheer me up a little, who knows?" She shrugged, leaning back against her many pillows. Puck was sitting on the foot of her bed, strumming at his guitar, purposefully studying the chords that he didn't really need to glance at in order for him to play. It just gave him an excuse to look anywhere but at Berry, and that helped him out.

"Because that's really reassuring," He rolled his eyes as he started to play the chords needed for the required song and then added on his vocals.

_"I can feel her breath as she's sleeping next to me, sharing pillows and cold feet/She can feel my heart, fell asleep to its beat, under blankets and warm sheets/If I only could be in that bed again/If only it were me instead of him/Does he watch your favorite movies/Does he hold you when you cry/Does he let you tell him all your favorite parts when you've seen it a million times/Does he sing to all your music while you dance to purple rain/Does he do all these things, like I used to?" _Puck sang, and the memories flashed through his mind and Rachel's head.

She could remember lying there, back when they'd dated, catching their breath after a make-out session, wrapped in his arms as they shared one of her many pillows, just to be closer together. Her tiny feet that always seemed to be cold were wrapped between his legs, touching his large, warmer ones. Her head would have been resting right on his chest as she listened to his heart beat, that seemed to match hers perfectly, and she could remember how she'd drifted off to sleep, listening to its soothing sound, to wake up under a blanket that most certainly hadn't been on her before hand, with the only sign he'd been there before the warm sheets on her side of the bed.

Puck wished that he could once again be in that position. But, instead, it had turned from his face kissing Rachel's, to Finn Hudson's instead, and that killed him.

_"Fourteen months and seven days ago/Oh, I know you know/How we felt about that night/Just your skin against the window/Oh, we took it slow/And we both know/It should've been me inside that car/It should've been me instead of him, in the dark." _He sang on, even more thoughts of their past coming back to haunt them both.

It had been that long, actually, since their relationship had began. Actually, it had probably been a little bit longer than that, but if Rachel was giving a rough estimate, she'd go with a year, two months, and a week.

Puck was just assuming, but he was sure he was right, that they both had felt the same way about that night, when they'd first hooked up. It had started, in his truck, directly after school, something that not many people got to know, and her head had been leaning against the window as he'd kissed her, holding her tightly in his arms. And, during their many make out sessions during their relationship, he made sure to take it slow, because he knew that she wasn't ready, just as she knew that he so wanted it.

Puck had seen Rachel and Finn's make-out sessions in Finn's old clunker, and Puck had always felt the same way. It should have been him in that car. When he saw them together, parking late at night with Finn trying to move too fast, Puck knew that it was supposed to be him there, instead of Finn, holding Rachel close as they sat there in the dark.

_"Does he watch your favorite movies? Does he hold you when you cry? Does he let you tell him all your favorite parts when you've seen it a million times? Does he sing to all your music while you dance to Purple Rain? Does he do all these things, like I used to?" _Puck's song really was asking her these questions.

After all, Puck had sat there while she'd forced him to watch _Funny Girl, Funny Lady, West Side Story, _and _Chorus Line _repeatedly during their short lived relationship. And, whenever she'd start crying during the movies-when Barbra's love interest was arrested, when Barbra was left alone, when Tony died, and during Paul's monologue-patting her back and burying his face in her hair. And then, when she'd stop the movie to announce her favorite part, he'd allowed her to keep rewinding the film, until they'd watched the scene so many times Puck could quote every line from it. And the, when they'd be in her room, when her dads were home, he'd strum some chords from some of her favorite songs and sing the words softly as she danced around her room, singing with him.

In their short, week-long relationship, Puck had been a better boyfriend to Rachel, because Finn had never done any of those things, like Puck had.

_"I know love (I'm a sucker for that feeling)/Happens all the time, love (I always end up feeling cheated)/You're on my mind, love (or so that matter when I need it)/It happens all the time-love, yeah/Will he love you like I loved you/Will he tell you every day/Will he make you feel like you're invincible with every word he'll say/Can you promise me if this was right/Don't throw it all away/Can you do all these things/Will you do all these things/Like we used to/Oh, like we used to." _Puck finished that song, asking her the question that had been bugging him since Finn and Rachel had gotten together.

Would Rachel feel the same way towards Finn as she did towards Puck?

* * *

"Your arms got buffer," Rachel observed softly as he held his arm out to her in school the next morning, right before they entered the building, arm in arm. Then she turned red, blushing as she realized what she'd just said to him. She wanted to die-she was absolutely humiliated.

"Must be the steroids," He teased her, flashing a smile down at her. "But, you know-it's been a long time," He said softly, observing her outfit. She'd been doing better, while dating Finn, about dressing like a typical teenage girl from this century, but today she was in a red plaid tank top dress-and while it was still relatively short, it wasn't something that was as sexily appealing as what girls like Quinn wore, when out of her uniform. Unless the boy in question was Noah Puckerman. He thought anything Rachel put on was sexy. "What's with the get up today?" He wondered.

"I know why people stopped throwing slushies at me," Rachel whispered. "It was because I was dating Finn, and that was fine with me. The lack of a slushy to the face, though, allowed me wear whatever I wanted to without the fear of my wardrobe being ruined. Now that I'm no longer seeing him-well, actually, I'm a bit unsure of where we stand-but, well, now I'm not so sure I should relax, thinking I'm free of the slushy facials. I mean, Artie and Mercedes still sometimes get one to the face, and I'm sure Tina's only stopped because she was dating Mike now, and people are too afraid to mess with him to try and hurt her," She shrugged as she walked, a sad tone to her voice.

And it killed Puck. That was, by far, the saddest, most upsetting thing he'd ever heard anybody say and it broke his heart a little bit to hear that she had such a low self esteem, and that she thought she needed to dress a certain way to avoid being slushied. And he told her, exactly what he thought.

"Besides, even if Finn and you are over, nobody's going to mess with you, because you're on _my _arm now," He smirked, releasing his arm from her own and slipping his arm around her waist. "And even if you're not my girlfriend, well, it doesn't mean people can mess with you. Nobody would mess with my girl," He said reassuringly, frowning as they reached an angry Finn Hudson.

"What the hell, Rach? We get into a fight and you run off and cheat on me with Puckerman? I should've known something was up when he came to your defense yesterday! How long's it been going on?" He asked, clenching his fists as he tightened his jaw.

"I'm not cheating on you!" Rachel gasped, her jaw dropping in amazement. "I can't believe you'd turn around and blame this whole thing on me! You slept with Santana-who says you _suck _in the sack, by the way-and then lied to me about it. What were you gaining from that? Because I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the only option I had left. I'd rather sleep with Jacob Ben-Israel than you! You disgust me," Rachel said harshly, narrowing her eyes at him fiercously. "You know what-I was happy before you came into my life, but now? All you've made me do was suffer since the moment you entered it. You led me on, you lied to me, you abused me, you used me-you're an ass and I can't believe I ever dated you! You aren't even good looking!" She snapped.

"You know, I had _so _many things I wanted to say to you just now, but I'm so turned on by Berry's little meltdown that I can't even remember what any of them were...so, I'm just going to say the only part of her speech she left out-you and Berry? Yeah, you're over, sorry, bro, but...well, it's done," Puck shrugged, starting to walk away, with Rachel still in his firm grasp.

"She's always going to be _mine, _Puckerman. I was her first real relationship. I was her first kiss. I'm the one she wants to be with!" Finn said, not realizing the nonsense of his own words.

"Cool story, bro," Puck called over his shoulder. "Tell it to somebody who cares!" He said as he walked on.

* * *

"Mr. Shue?" Rachel asked, tossing her hand in the air during Glee that afternoon. "Mercedes, Tina and I have put together a song that we'd like to perform now, if you didn't mind," She said. THat shocked everybody. Not only was Rachel not about to sing a solo, with two girls used simply as background singers, she was asking _permission _to do so, rather than just announcing that she'd be singing and doing so. Mr. Shue nodded, slightly confused as the three girls stood up and made their way towards the front of the room, Rachel whispering the song to Brad before hopping up on the piano, taking her seat besides Tina who was already sitting there, and on the other side of Mercedes who was leaning against it casually.

_"Comparisons are easily done, once you've had a taste of perfection/Like an apple hanging from a tree, I picked the ripest one/I still got the seed," _Tina started the song, shocking everybody, since it had been so long since her last solo. Mike grinned, proud that Tina considered him perfection, seeming to forget that Artie had been Tina's first boyfriend, and that she was staring right at the wheel chaired boy, who was sitting there, holding Brittany's hand. It wasn't so much that she still liked Artie. It was just that she missed the familiarity of being with him, and the safety of knowing that he didn't have better options who were much more experienced. And she hated that Brittany was now going for Artie, after she'd already been with Mike first.

_"You said move on, where do I go/I guess second best is all I will know," _Rachel took the next part, lowering her head as she shook her head sadly and slowly.

"_'Cause when I'm with him, I am thinking of you," _Tina and Rachel sang together as Mercedes sang the harmony 'thinking of you'. _"What you would do if you were the one/Who was spending the night/Oh, I wish that I was looking into your eyes," _They finished the chorus, just Tina and Rachel.

_"You're like an Indian summer, in the middle of winter/Like a hard candy with a surprise center," _Mercedes sang on, smiling slyly at Sam Evans, the blonde haired cutie who was wrapped around Quinn Fabray's perfectly manicured finger.

"_How do I get better, once I've had the best/You said there's tons of fish in the water, so the waters I will test," _Tina sang, popping herself off the piano and twirling around slightly before stopping in front of Artie.

_"He kissed my lips, I taste your mouth/He pulled me in, I was disgusted with myself!" _Rachel belted out, lifting her head upwards slowly, staring at Finn was a disgusted look on her face. _"'Cause when I'm with him, I am thinking of you," _She continued on her own, turning to look at Puck, who'd lowered his head when he'd seen her turn towards Finn. _"Thinking of you," _She sang softly.

_"What you would do if you were the one/Who was spending the night/Oh I wish that I was looking into..."_Tina and Mercedes sang the next half of the chorus together, each staring at their own boy-Tina now focused on Mike, with a reassuring smile.

_"You're the best, and yes I do regret/How I could let myself let you go/Now the lesson's learned/I touched it, I was burned/Oh, I think you should know,"_ Rachel sang on, getting off of the piano and making her way on towards Puck.

_"When I'm with him, I am thinking of you," _Tina belted.

_"Thinking of you," _Mercedes repeated.

_"What you would do if you were the one who was spending the night," _Rachel took over, standing right in front of Puck. _"Oh I wish that I was looking into your eyes," _She said, smiling as he lifted his gaze up to meet hers.

_"Looking into your eyes," _Tina and MIke locked eyes.

_"Looking into your eyes," _Sam glanced quickly at Mercedes before staring at the ground once again.

_"Oh won't you walk through and bust in the door/And take me away, oh no more mistakes, cause in your eyes I'd like to stay," _The three girls finished their song together.

"You were using me the whole time?" Finn asked, glaring as he turned to look at Rachel. "You were using me to get over Puck and make him jealous, weren't you? Just because he broke up with you so that he could be with Quinn. I'm right, aren't I? That's why you picked that song-to rub it in, right?" Finn snapped at her, causing her to wince at his bitterness.

"She broke up with me, okay?" Puck snapped, turning around towards Finn. "You happy now? She broke up with me because of _you! _She wanted to be with you, so she left me!" Puck said. "And then you turned out to be a jerk, and she remembered how it was with me, when she was with somebody who actually cared about her. When she got to be with a guy who didn't check out other girls, because he knew he had the best. She remembered what it was like to be with a guy who actually _loved _her!" Puck snapped, and then paused, as if realizing what he'd just admitted.

The rest of the club was just as shocked, freezing and staring at him in amazement as he jumped to his feet and hurried from the choir room, taking off and heading away.

* * *

Puck sat on the stage in the auditorium, his legs dangling over the edge of the stage as he strummed some chords on his guitar, softly singing the song that really reminded him of Rachel.

_"Her name is Noel/I have a dream about her/She rings my bell/I got gym class in half an hour/Oh how she rocks in Keds and tube socks/But she doesn't know who I am/ And she doesn't give a damn about me/Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby/Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby/Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me." _He sang, remembering back in Sophomore year, when all he'd known about her, besides her talent, was the fact that her name was Rachel, and that she was a hot Jew. And then, he'd had that dream about her, and suddenly, all the bells were ringing and every sign was there. He'd fly out of gym, his favorite class, just to make sure he could watch as she exited the choir room, which was nearby, from her free period in her knee high socks, Mary Jane shoes, and short skirts. But, at that time, she hadn't known who he was, besides his reputation. She hadn't given him a second thought, because all she knew was that he was a teenage dirtbag. That was his reputation, after all. A Lima Loser with no future.

And then he'd bought her a slushy, sat in his truck listening to his Iron Maiden CD, and made out with her.

_"Her boyfriend's a dick/And he brings a gun to school/And he'd simply kick my ass/If he knew the truth/He lives on my block/And he drives an Iroc/But he doesn't know who I am/And he doesn't give a damn about me/'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby/Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirt bag baby/Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me," _He continued.

The boyfriend being a total asshole part could apply to Jesse or Finn. Finn, who actually did bring a gun to school-granted, it was a paintball gun, but it was still a gun. Or Jesse, who had lived on Puck's block when he was staying with his uncle. And he had driven an incredible car, much better than Puck's rusted old pick-up truck. Jesse hadn't known who PUck was-he knew nothing about him. And Finn didn't really care about him. Because, Puck was nothing more than a stupid kid with no future. He was a dead beat who already had a kid when he was just a sophomore. And both boys would have loved to kick Puck's ass if they'd known that he and Rachel still met up to listen to his old CDs in his truck, every now and then.

_Yeah, dirtbag-no, she doesn't know what she's missing/Yeah, dirt bag-no she doesn't know what she's missing/Man I feel like mold/It's prom night and I'm lonely/Low and behold/She's walking over to me/This must be fake/My lips start to shake/How does she know who I am/And why does she give a damn about-"_

He stopped singing when he realized that his words were becoming a reality. Rachel was starting to walk towards him, when he was feeling like shit, all alone. He couldn't help but think that it was a dream, but his lips started to quiver in that desperate way they did whenever he really wanted to kiss her, and he wondered if he'd been wrong all along. Maybe she did know who he really was. Maybe she was the only one who really knew him. And maybe she did give a damn about-

"I need to know if you meant what you said," She asked him, standing in front of the stage and looking up at him. He dropped to the ground, leaving his guitar sitting there and nodded. "You loved me?" She asked.

"Yes," He said.

"Do you still love me?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, I love you too,"

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You love me?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

Puck smirked as he reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her close to him as he leaned down and kissed her, directly on the lips, his arrogant, bad boy smile already in place.

"Noah," She whispered when he pulled apart, resting his forehead against her own.

"Berry?" He responded.

"I really was using Finn to make you jealous."

"I know."

"Okay."

"Berry?"

"Noah?"

"I never was going to break up with you."

"I know."

And with that, he grinned down at her, picking her up slightly and kissing her. When he set her down, he pulled her towards the hallway, which was still crowded with kids getting out of their after school clubs or practices.

"HEY! EVERYBODY!" Puck screamed. Everyone stopped and turned to stare at him. "I'M IN LOVE WITH RACHEL BERRY!" He announced, pulling her close to him and kissing him again, just to prove to her how much he loved her. And from the way she was smiling into the kiss and responding with such intensity, he knew that it was well worth whatever would come his way for admitting it.


	5. Sue Sylvester Shuffle

**Moments That Matter**  
**A Glee Fan Fiction**  
**A/N: If anybody has any Puckleberry scenes they'd like to request for the story, just let me know in a PM or review. I'm going through the WIKIA for the scenes, but if I miss one you like, just let me know!**  
**_Sue Sylvester Shuffle _**

"Puckerman!" Noah Puckerman looked up from his seat on the piano bench in the choir room where he was strumming his guitar, playing the song that meant so much to him, despite the fact that he'd never sing it himself as he wondered who could be calling him. The voice was most definitely female, but the only girl in school who always called him by his last name was Santana Lopez, and this voice was too sweet to be the Latino bitch's crazy, snarky voice that was always filled with venom. This voice was kind and gentle, with a little bit of obnoxiousness mixed into it. "PUCKERMAN!" The high pitched, angry shriek that seemed very annoyed at the fact that she'd been ignored the first time around told him exactly who the voice was.

"Rachel?" He sighed, lowering the guitar and turning around to face Rachel Berry, the residential star of William McKinley High School, located right in the center of Lima, Ohio. "I don't know where Finn is, alright? I'd be the last one to know that. I _do _know, however, that he wants to talk to _you _even less than he wants to talk to _me," _The wide receiver informed her, turning to get back to his guitar.

"That's exactly my point!" She said cheerfully, dropping herself onto the seat next to him, crossing her long, bare legs as she smiled up at him. "I need you to sing a duet with me to make Finn jealous," She decided.

"What's the matter with me?" He asked her. She frowned. "I'm a stud, and I can't even get a girl like you-no offense. Why don't girls like me?" He wondered, frowning as he remembered that, in this school, he would always play second fiddle to Finn Hudson. Quinn Fabray may have had his baby, but she'd wanted the world to believe it was Finn's kid, because, as she'd constantly told Puck, he was a Lima Loser. And Rachel? She'd always use Puck as a way to make Finn jealous, and that killed him, because, even if he didn't want her for himself, he knew that Finn didn't deserve her.

"Well, you're a bit of a jerk, no offense," Rachel snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then why are you asking me for help? Why do you want _me _to sing this duet with you?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows as he chuckled-something only an boy with a mohawk and lovely arms could get away with in the twenty first century.

"Because you happen to be the only member of the glee club left who can keep up with my vocally, except for, just maybe, the exception of Sam, but as he's dating Quinn, it wouldn't have the same effect as singing it with you. Besides that, singing with _you _would piss Finn off just enough that he could realize that he still loves me and wants me back, because he doesn't want to lose me to you," She explained, rolling her eyes as if it were obvious and he was being an idiot for asking her what her reasoning was. He shook his head and sighed. He should have known he'd be getting that reaction from her for her question.

"What song do I have to sing with you?" He sighed, relenting, because with Rachel, it was easier to just pick one's battles and let most things go.

"Well, I was thinking that we could decide that together, because I know how you are about only singing songs by Jewish performers, you know?" She said and he gave her a half grin, slightly impressed that she actually remembered that about him. Most people forgot about it. "But, I was hoping we could pick something that you could play guitar on, because I was talking to Sam and he showed me how to do that thing he and Quinn did where it was like she was playing his guitar by wrapping her arms around him, and I figured that could really annoy Finn, ya know?" She went on and he frowned. What he hell was she doing talking to Sam Evans? And, a better question-why the hell did he care that she was talking to him.

"Alright, well, let's get to work, I guess," He shrugged, setting his guitar down, leaning it against the piano as he stood up, making his way towards the shelves that were stuffed with sheet music. He turned over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow back at Rachel. "Well? Are you coming?" He asked, smiling as she jumped to her feet and hurried towards him in that tight little white top she was wearing with tiny red pleated skirt.

* * *

"Got a new beard, Puck? Damn, how's he always get the hot ones?" Azimio muttered, shaking his head. "Hold on a second-is that Rachel _Berry?" _he asked in amazement, his eyes growing wide as he zoomed right in on Rachel's chest. Puck pulled her closer.

"Because girls love gay guys," David Karofsky informed his best friend.

"You know what Karofsky?" Finn Hudson asked angrily. "It's really funny how you call everybody else in this school gay-especially the ones in this club-when you've never even had a girlfriend!" He snapped, his eyes still locked on Puck and Rachel as he crossed his arms and pouted, going back to his typical silence as he watched Rachel raise an eyebrow and take a small step forward, away from Puck.

"You guys think Puck's gay? Well, would a gay guy get this into his beard?" She smirked, turning on her heel and standing on her tip toes, reaching out and cupping Puck's shoulders in her hands, pulling him close as she pressed her lips to his. Puck wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off of the ground a little bit and deepening the kiss, pulling her closer to him. Rachel moaned as Puck's tongue danced into her mouth, connecting with her own. When Puck set her back on the ground, breaking the kiss, he still clung to her, resting his forehead to her own as they slowly took deep breaths, working to catch their breath as they stared into one another's eyes, a small smile on Rachel's face before she pushed away and strolled confidently to her seat besides Mercedes Jones.

"Yo, Puckerman!" Azimio said, nodding towards the football player standing in the doorway with his arms crossed as he leaned against the door, a small grin on his face that made him look like the original bad ass he was. "When you're done with her, can you send her to my house? If she's as crazy in the sack as she is the rest of the time-and by that kiss, she sure as hell looks it-I wouldn't mind banging a Gleek," He smirked, reaching out a fist that Karofsky met with his own. Puck glared, growling at him as he walked towards the glee side of the room and sat down besides Rachel.

"Good! You guys are all here," Mr. Shue said happily as he walked into the room, smiling at the teenagers who clearly didn't want to be there even half as much as he wanted to be there. Coach Bieste was behind him, and Puck zoned out as the two started to explain why the football players were there. He didn't even know why they were protesting. He didn't come back to attention until Mr. Shue said his name. "Rachel, I believe you and Puck have been working on something-why don't you show us it?" He asked, sighing. Clearly he figured a performance would be the best way to combine the groups. Puck snorted at the teacher's utter stupidity as he stood up and followed Rachel to the front of the room, getting his guitar.

"Fine-as offended as I am by their presence there, I'm not going to let anything stop me from a performance. Ready, Noah?" She asked, her arms crossed as she glared at Puck. But, as soon as he started to strum the chords, her expression softened and she uncrossed her arms, propping herself up onto the piano, dangling her legs over the side, her ankles crossed.

_"Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor/Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore," _Rachel sang, a sad look on her face as she glance at Puck before quickly looking away from him.

"_And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?" _The two sang together as Rachel popped herself off from the piano and started walking towards him.

_"For me it happens all the time," _She sang, reaching out towards him when she'd reached him, only to snap her arm back as the two started to sing together, amazing Rachel at how amazing their voices sounded together. It pushed her to work harder than she ever had on a solo before.

_"It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now/Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now/And I don't know how I can do without/I just need you now," _They sang, circling one another as they sang the songs, their eyes locked intently on one another.

_"Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door," _Puck said, shooting the door a glance over his shoulder. _"Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before," _He sang as Rachel twirled towards him.

_"And I wonder if I ever cross your mind," _They sang together, sharing a small, sad smile with one another.

_"For me it happens all the time!" _Puck belted out, his voice amazing Rachel with the emotion behind it and the excellent tone.

_"It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now/Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now/And I don't know how I can do without/I just need you now," _They sang together as Rachel twirled behind him.

_"Whoa," _Puck sang as Rachel wound her arms around his in order to imitate the move Sam had taught Quinn and now Rachel herself. _"Whoa,"_ She sang.

_"Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all," _They sang as Rachel unhooked her arms from Puck and started to make her way away from him.

_"It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone, and I need you now!" _Rachel sang, turning around towards Puck, facing him as he faced the front.

_"And I said I wouldn't call, but I'm a little drunk and I need you now!" _Puck sang out, turning around so that he was now facing her.

_"And I don't know how I can do without/I just need you now," _They sang as they slowly walked towards one another.

_"Oh baby, I need you now," _She finished, twirling into his arms as he pushed his guitar aside with the last chord of the song.

"They should sing together for Nationals," Santana announced, shocking every single member of the club. "That's probably the best duet pair we've had in this club since Mercedes and I," She said.

"Yeah, that girl with the mohawk had a nice voice-and I loved watching Rachel-"Azimio never got to finish, because Puck nodded, smiling as if he thought Azimio was being funny, and then lunged towards him holding his guitar like a baseball bat. Mr. Shue reached forward and pulled him back, as Sam Evans jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around Rachel, pulling her back as she kicked and screamed.

"THEY MADE KURT LEAVE! THEY'RE ALL ASSHOLES AND THEY DON'T DESERVE TO BE IN HERE!" She protested, trying to squirm her way out of Sam's grasp.

"Evans-give her to me," Puck muttered, dropping his guitar and turning towards Sam, holding a hand out.

"I don't-"

"I want to talk to her. We won't be in here, alright?" Puck promised.

"Okay," Sam relented, releasing Rachel and shoving her gently towards Puck, who grabbed her hand and started walking from the room with her, leading her towards the auditorium. He didn't stop until he'd reached the stage, his hand still wrapped around her own.

"What do you want? Are you going...I thought we-"

"Do you think I'm going to try and force you into something?" Puck asked, a playful smile on his face.

"What do you want?" She repeated.

"I just want to talk, alright? I...I have something I need to-"

"PUCKERMAN! GET OVER HERE!" Finn Hudson screamed from the doorway, appearing there right when Puck as about to do something completely un-him like.

"I'll catch up with you later, alright? Head back to the choir room, and try not to beat up any football players, alright?" He teased her. She shrugged, giving a non commitical sound as she started to walk away. "What do you want?" Puck asked, walking towards Finn after Rachel had left his sight.

"Why'd you sing that duet with Rachel?"

"She asked me to."

"Why'd you agree?"

"What happened between us? We used to be best friends."

"Until you slept with my girlfriend. And made out with my other one."

"I was drunk with Quinn, and so was she. It didn't mean anything."

"What about Rachel?"

"Well, her...don't worry about it-she still likes you."

"She does?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"I just do, okay?"

"Stay away from her."

"Quinn?"

"Rachel!"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't talk to her. Don't look at her. Just stay away."

"I don't know if I can promise that..."

"We can't win if you and I can't work together."

"I don't make promises I can't keep."

"You can't have her."

"Doesn't mean I can't try."

* * *

It hadn't happened all at once, his feelings for Rachel Berry. He hadn't had them for very long either. When she'd asked him to help her sing to make Finn jealous, he'd been annoyed, because he hadn't thought that Finn deserved her, but he hadn't been jealous. That had been a week ago. If he was being honest, he'd admit that he'd started to fall for her slowly, as they worked together on their song, laughing and joking around. When she'd tease him or touch him in some small way, he'd smile and want to pull her closer, or just stay locked in that moment forever so it never ended. But, he'd been sure that he loved and cared for her when he'd seen how intense she'd looked at him while performing with him, and when he'd heard how amazing their voices sounded together.

The thing that had really pushed him to realize that his feelings were real though, was that Finn Hudson was so jealous of _him, _which was a nice change for the two friends. It was nice to know that Finn felt envious and threatened by Puck's feelings for Rachel. It showed that Finn knew that there was a chance for the two of them-or, at least, he thought that there could be a chance for them to work out. So, somewhere between giggling during rehearsals, small touches that meant nothing, performing a love song together, and his ex-best friend's jealous, he'd fallen in love with Rachel.

And he'd begun to fall even more in love with her as the time went on. It was scary to think that she was the one he went to when he was depressed because the other football players had left the team, rather than perform with the glee club during their half time routine, since the Cheerios had decided to go to their competition, rather than the championship game.

Still, he found himself falling even more in love with her at this particular moment, as she stood at the front of the room with Mr. Shuester and Coach Bieste, as well as the other glee club girls, minus the Cheerios.

"Rachel, have you ever actually _seen _a tackle football game?" Mr. Shue asked. "When they tackle you, it hurts," He informed her.

"Well, actually, they only need enough players to make up an actual field-team...thingy," Rachel struggled to explain, blushing at her completely idiotic way of explaining the rules of what was needed in order for the team to play the game. Puck shook his head, marveling at how adorable he thought Rachel was when she was flustered and confused. "Anyways, we just need to be on the field. And then, when they call the play and go to run, we just have to get on the ground and lie there. We're just going to lie there," She insisted in the most adorable way and Puck found himself smiling. It was cute, seeing Rachel try to act as if she actually understood what she was saying when it came to sports. It sort of made him want her more.

"At this point, I'm willing to try anything. Chang, Hudson, Abrams, Evans, Puckerman-you guys think you're capable of handling it on your own with the girls just...lying there," Coach Bieste sighed, giving Rachel an odd look that caused her to look at the ground, blushing even more. The boys mumbled their way around a real answer, except for Puck, who stood up and walked towards the girls, giving each one a high five in turn before grabbing Rachel and pulling her in for a tight hug, showing that he was absolutely _fine _with the girls playing in the game with him.

"Berry, you're my hero right now, you know that?" He asked her, pulling back and looking down at the bright smile she had on her face, her cheeks flushed with happiness. It took all of his willpower not to lean in and kiss her right then and there. Luckily, Sam Evans swept in and hugged the tiny brunette, breaking the connection the two Jewish teenagers had had.

Puck wanted to turn around and punch Sam in the face for his actions, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry, because it was saving him and Finn a big fight, that shouldn't have to happen until _after _the game, at their victory party.

"But, you do realize that you're going to host the after party, right?" He told her teasingly.

* * *

"Why did I agree to this?" Rachel muttered, staring at the mouth piece she had to wear, the helmet, and all of the patting she had to put on. All of the other girls had left the locker room already, and she was sitting there in her sports bra, staring at everything she was required to wear. She'd told the others that she would be fine and that she was perfectly capable of dressing herself, but in reality, she had no clue what she was going. "I don't even know how to put any of this stuff on and I'm going to look like a complete and utter idiot out there. We're going to be an even bigger laughing stock than we already are," She sighed, pulling hair into a high ponytail as she shook her head, trying to figure out where she should start.

"There's that Titan team spirit!" Puck grinned as he came up behind her, throwing the white tee shirt she had on the bench in front of her at her. "Put this on first, and then start to put the padding on. The jersey goes over the padding, alright?" He told her, handing her each piece individually, in the order that she needed to put each thing on. She nodded, slowly getting ready. "Now the mouth piece," He rolled his eyes, handing it to her. She slid it into her mouth. "Now let's go, alright?" He said, grabbing her helmet and putting it under his free arm as he led her from the locker room.

She reached the rest of the team on the sidelines-she was slowly learning what everything was called-and took her helmet from Puck. Well, she tried to take it from him, but he held it high, out of her reach and smirked down at her, causing her to cross her arms and frown at him, staring up at him in defeat, wondering what he was going to do next to torture her.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" He wondered, staring down at her with a skeptical look in his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't believe in her-it was just that she was so _small. _He was nine whole inches taller than her-almost an entire foot!

"Let's kick some ass," She said, spitting her mouth piece out to speak and then putting it back in.

"You're funny, Berry," He grinned, putting her helmet on her head and patting the top of it.

He turned, ready to walk towards the field where everybody was already setting up for the game, when she reached out and slapped his butt-wasn't it already mentioned that she was learning? He looked back at her and grinned, giving her a small wink before putting in his own mouth piece.

She shrugged, following him towards the field and taking her place. She followed her self implied rules to just lie there on the ground, allowing the game to happen around her for her own safety reasons for most of the game. But the team was suffering a humilating defeat, and Rachel did not do that. She never just stood idly by and let her team lose. That was not the Rachel Berry way.

So, when Finn called hike for the last time before half time, she decided that she'd been lying when she'd insisted that they were just going to lie there. If Rachel was going to be on this field, she was going to treat it like a performance. And just like every other time she performed in front of a large crowd, she was going to be the star. So, she took off running, jumping up and catching the ball, marveling at the mere fact that she'd actually managed to catch a football that had been thrown. Then, after a second's hestitation, she took off running down the field. She was going to make sure the Titans won, because that would make her not only the glee club star, but a football star.

"TOUCH DOWN!" The men wearing the black and white striped shirts called and Rachel smirked. But, she couldn't bring herself to stand up just yet. She'd managed to score, throwing the arm holding the football out in front of her as if to catch her fall, managing to make it go straight into the end zone, with her shoulders there as well. But, a large player from the other time had jumped right on top of her, all of his weight right on his back. And it had been painful. Completely, utterly painful, and she could barely catch her breath. She could feel the silent tension in the air, and she could hear the 'oh shit' coming from the player who'd tackled her when he'd realized that she was a girl and not just a very tiny boy.

"Rachel? Are you okay?" Puck blurted as he dropped to the ground behind her, spitting his mouthpiece out onto his palm before sliding it into his pocket. He reached out for her, lifting her up into a sitting position and then pulled her into his lap, holding her close. The half was over, and Finn had taken off to try and find the rest of the football team, after seeing the fierce glare take over Puck's eyes when Rachel had hit the ground. "Rachel, come on, baby, say something, alright? You need to talk to me, okay? Are you alright? Do you want me to go get your dads?" He was panicking and he knew it, but he would cry if he didn't keep fretting on her, because he was just too worried about her. He finally stopped when she groaned.

"Noah?" She asked, her milk chocolate eyes searching around before locking onto his own hazel eyes, a small smile on her face as she looked up at him. "Did I do a good job?" She asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Waiting for Puck's answer, sensing the shock in his face, her smile began to drop, turning into a slight frown. She could hear Kurt Hummel screaming her name in his loud, high pitched voice, but it was barely comprehensible for her. She was too focused on Puck and what his answer was going to be to her question.

"Yeah, babe, you did good. You did freaking amazing, alright," He said, a broad grin taking over his face as he reached out and pulled her closer to him. "Can you stand up now?" He asked her. She nodded and he sighed, standing up himself before helping her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist as he looked down at her. He'd removed both of their helmets when he'd reached her and the helmets sat at their feet as they stood there.

"Can I be done now?" She asked, a tired grin on her face. She was covered in sweat, her hair matted to her head and her face covered with runny black make-up. She was wearing football padding that hid her figure, and three slim, slender cheerleaders were making their way towards the fields in their tiny uniforms.

Yet, to Puck, Rachel was the hottest looking girl around him.

* * *

"WOOHOO!" Rachel cheered as the final buzzer went off-McKinley High winning the game by a single touch down. Puck didn't bother to celebrate the fact that he'd made the winning touchdown. Instead, he dropped the ball and started making his way from the field, pushing past his teammates as he removed his helmet, spitting his mouthguard out onto the field, not caring if it was destroyed or lost forever-or stolen by some hopeless, loser fan girl that was now in love with him for winning the game. He stopped when he reached the side lines, standing right in front of Rachel, smiling down at her happily. She lowered her head, wiping her bangs from her shiny forehead. She was still in her jsery, but she'd removed the padding at some point.

"You won," She said with a sly smile on her flushed face. "Congratulations-you guys are on top, and the football team's the best. You're right where you belong right? The top of the social food chain that is the high school's social pyramid?" She asked. She was babbling, but Puck was going to let her finish her speech before he said anything. "Anyways, great game. I'm proud of you guys. I don't think anybody thought it would happen, but you guys did it. You won the championship game." She said, finally looking up at him as she was finished. "It's all over,"

"No, it's not," He shook his head. She frowned, furrowing her eyebrows together adorably. IT was clear that she was confused-the confusion was written all over her face. "I didn't win everything, yet," He told her, taking a small step towards her. She seemed to get even more confused at that statement and a sly smile-his arrogant, bad-boy, rebel without a cause sexy smirk took its place on his face once again.

"What are you talking about? You guys won the game, you performed at half time-dressed as zombies," She giggled at the zombie make-up still on his face. "And the entire school loves you guys. What else is there to win?" She asked.

He didn't answer. He just placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close, pressing his lips to her own.

* * *

"Rachel? Are you ready yet? Mike text me and said people are starting to get here," Puck called from Rachel's bed. He'd used her parents' bedroom to get ready for the after party, after showering in the locker room at school, and was now wearing a pair of jeans with a red tee shirt that read McKinley High Athletics. His jersey was sitting on Rachel's bed besides him.

"Yeah, I just don't know what I want to wear," She sighed, walking out of her closet in her fluffy, hot pink, short bathroom with the gold stars on the back. Her hair was full and loose around her face, falling in gentle waves and her make-up was expertly done in a sparkling golden color that made her seem even more beautiful than she already was.

"I've got an idea," He smirked, picking up his jersey and handing it to her.

"What? You want me to...I thought the guys only let their girlfriends wear their jerseys at the parties?" She frowned, studying the red material with the number 20 written on the back. It was still in his hand, just waiting for her to take it from him.

"Well...yeah, that's kind of the point," He said, lowering his gaze as he frowned.

"You want me to be your girlfriend?" She gasped.

"Yeah," He shrugged.

"I'll be right back," She said, entering her closet again and returning a few seconds later wearing a short denim mini skirt with black high heels and a white tank top. She took the jersey from him and slipped it on, tying it in a knot towards the side. "Whaddya think?" She asked.

"Was that a yes?" He marveled at her.

"Yes," SHe nodded.

He didn't say anything. He just stood up and walked towards her, pulling her close to him and kissing her.

"_Now _I've won everything," He whispered to her as he kissed her again. When they broke apart again, he reached in to kiss her again, only to be interrupted by the doorbell.

"Come on, people are here," She sighed.

"I regret asking you to host the party," He sighed, wrapping an arm around her waist as he led her down the stairs and towards the front door. Rachel opened it and a large flood of people came walking in.

"Girl, you've got lots of explaining to do," Kurt observed when he saw Puck's arm around Rachel's waist.

"She can do that later-tonight, she's mine," Puck growled, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.

"I told you to stay away from her," Finn glared.

"And I said I couldn't make any promises if I wasn't sure I could keep them," Puck said, bringing Rachel past him and into the living room.


	6. Blame it on the Alcohol

_**Moments That Matter  
A Puckleberry One Shot Series  
Blame It On The Alcohol **_

"Hey, my hot little Jewish American princess," Noah Puckerman grinned as he entered the choir room, smiling at Rachel Berry was he dropped down onto the piano bench besides her.

He glanced at the song she was working on, just to double check that it wasn't about a certain ex-boyfriend of hers, and nodded in satisfaction that it was simply about those little-girl-like headbands she always wore in her hair, that somehow just made her school-school wardrobe seem even hotter than it already did. Those headbands were in all of his fantasies about her, along with the knee highs, the Mary Janes, the plaid skirts and the tiny little button downs. He leaned his elbow on the keys of the piano, laughing as she jumped at the terrible sound the combination of notes made as he rested his head on the palm of his hand.

"Stop that," She said, reaching for his elbow, giggling a little as she yanked at it softly, pulling it away from the piano. "It's too much weight on the keys and too much strain. It can break them, and I highly doubt Figgins is going to give us an extensive budget for a new piano, or even to repair the keys, because you didn't have the energy to hold your head up during school." She rolled her eyes, a teasing note to her musical voice as she she studied him. "You want something. What is it?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she swung her legs around the bench of the piano, standing up and walking away a little. She needed to put distance between herself and Puck or else something bad would happen. Something she couldn't allow herself to do.

"I heard your dads are out of town," He smirked up at her, standing up and walking towards her. "And I heard you telling Kurt and Mercedes that you've never drunk before. And since I've never seen you at any parties, I know you've never had that experience." He explained.

"So what?" She asked, swallowing as he stood in front of her, her back pressed up against the wall behind her.

"So, this weekend, you and I are going to host a little party, alright? At your place. I'll come over before hand so I can check out the liquor cabinet and replace anything we use, alright? I'm responsible when it comes to stuff like that," He said.

"How'd you know my dads were out of town?" She asked.

She already knew the answer to that one, though. Her dads always asked his mother to check in on her and make sure she was doing okay. They always asked if Puck would mind giving her a ride to and from school and to her extra curricular activities. Her fathers and his mother had known each other since before the two were born, when they'd met at Temple and become close friends. When Puck's father had left, Rachel's dads had stepped in to play the role of his father figures. That had meant Rachel had had to go to every single football game, and ended up knowing everything she'd ever need to know about the game because of the fact. Puck's mother could never go to the game, but Rachel's dads? They practically thrived for it. JUst like they thrived for Puck in general. They loved him almost as much as they loved Rachel.

And Puck respected her fathers. During the short period of time they'd dated, and any other time he'd come over, he'd leave the door open to her bedroom, despite their protests for Puck and Rachel to keep it closed so they could have their privacy. He always called them mister and he was always trying his very best to be polite. He walked Rachel to the door to drop her off and came to the door to pick her up. If he called the house and they answered, he'd talk to them for a while before going on to speak to Rachel. It was one of the few times Rachel saw the side of Noah Puckerman come out that she actually liked.

"It would be more responsible if you respected that they were out of town and didn't decide to use me to throw a party," Rachel explained.

"I'm not using you and I asked your dads before they left. They said they don't care if you have a party and they said that we could use anything in the house for the party. They didn't many an exceptions for alcohol," He said with a sly grin.

"You are absolutely horrid," Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Rach, you're my best friend and we barely ever talk at school. There's something wrong with that, isn't there? I'm trying here, I really am, and you're not letting me." He sighed. "Let me throw the party for you, alright? Let me throw the party and I'll let everybody know that my best friend in the entire world is Rachel Berry and that she's the reason I got the mohawk in the first place," Puck grinned at her.

Rachel smiled, blushing a little bit as she remembered that one particular dare. She and PUck had always been giving each other crazy, wild dares when they were younger, and sometime during elementary school-in about third grade-she'd dared him with the ultimate dare. Get a mohawk. And he'd done it, deciding that he quite liked it. And Rachel couldn't remember a time when the mohawk wasn't exactly who he was as a person. Sometimes their dares did that. They backfired on them a little bit and made things easier on the other person.

"Fine, you can throw the party," She rolled her eyes.

"Yes!" He grinned, giving her a hug and a kiss on the temple before turning on his heel and walking away.

The kiss wasn't a big deal for either of the two. Rachel always kissed him on the cheek, and it wasn't rare for him to kiss her on the head when he convinced her into something that she really hadn't wanted to do. It wasn't normal for them to do it in school, but it was a regular occurrence between the best friends.

But, Finn Hudson had been standing in the door way, and from the glare he flashed at Puck-which had been returned with a bright, happy grin from Puck-it showed that he'd seen the kiss and had thought that it was a _very _big deal. Especially after Puck had promised him that he'd stay far away from Rachel after they'd sung that stupid duet together. It didn't matter that Finn and Quinn were dating now. The promise was still in tact.

"What did Puck want?" Finn asked as he approached the piano, just as Rachel slid back onto the bench to continue working on her song.

"Oh, he was just asking me if I'd mind hosting a party with him this weekend because my fathers are out of town. Of course, I said no at first, but he convinced me," She shrugged as she started playing some notes on the keyboard.

"What was that kiss about?" Finn asked.

"I think he got a little excited at the idea of me hosting a party in a house where there will be no adult supervision for an entire weekend-and longer, since they'll be gone well into next week-and the party planning in the empty house, with alcohol that he seems to think my dads actually gave him permission to use," She said with an eye roll.

"Alright...can I hear what you're working on?" He asked, sitting down besides her.

"Yeah," She said, smiling at him pleasantly.

* * *

"Are you sure this is alright?" Rachel asked, looking down at the short, cheetah print, form fitting mini skirt Mercedes had convinced her to buy and wear for the party. She reached to tug the hemline down a little and Mercedes slapped her hand away, shaking her head. Rachel sighed, crossing her arms over the black, clingy tank top she'd paired with it with a plunging neckline and black ankle boots with a sky high heel. Mercedes had called them sex-me heels, and Rachel could only imagine that they screamed that out, with the effect they seemed to have on her legs, making the short, toned features appear long and endless. She shook her head, running a hand through her dark curls and glared at her neutrally made-up face.

"You look sexy," Mercedes said, standing up and adjusting her black super skinny jeans that she'd paired with a long, zebra print, off the shoulder top that hid her stomach. She had it paired with hot pink peep toes with a kitten heel and her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Her make-up was bright and shocking, grabbing everybody's attention. Rachel planned on staying by her side all night to make sure all eyes were on Mercedes rather than on herself. She was not enjoying the way the skirt rode up to practically reveal her ass to the world and she hated how the top practically let her entire boobs hang out.

"This is ridiculous. How is this supposed to help me mature as a person and start living like an actual teenage girl? I look like a trollop, you know. And, besides that, this isn't going to help me advance as a song writer. It's just going to put me in the competition for head slut with Santana," Rachel sighed as she started walking towards her door. Puck had taken charge of the party, and she and Mercedes would be entering Rachel's own party late.

Despite the fact that the party was taking place in her own house, right in her very own basement. Puck had given her very strict instructions. While the party was first getting into motion, Rachel was not allowed into the basement.

So, half an hour into it, she and Mercedes entered the source of the loud music.

And everybody was drinking.

"Rachel!" Puck grinned, walking towards her and swinging an arm over her shoulder, pulling her close as his hand slid down her waist, settling in her hip and cupping her ass. His breath reeked of alcohol. "I'll take over as her protector," He told Mercedes, dragging her away.

"Noah," Rachel sighed, shaking her head. She was slightly disgusted by alcohol, mostly because of the effects it could have on one's voice. But, the fact was that Puck was drunk and she couldn't allow him to drive home. Especially with how late he was planning on staying to help her clean up. He'd need to sleep over, and that disturbed Rachel a little bit. As much as her fathers loved Puck, she doubted they trusted him enough to sleep over when Rachel was home alone. "You're drunk," She pointed out.

"Can I be drunk on you?" He asked in her ear. "Anyways," He said, suddenly serious. "Let's go on a little tour. We're going to learn all about the different types of drunks. And then you're going to get your first drink and really start this party. By the way, Mercedes did a good job on you-you're looking pretty sexy. I might actually screw you now," He winked as he led her towards Quinn who was screaming at Finn and away from Lauren who was swearing at him as she sat there, her hands clenched into tight fists. "Example 1? Quinn and Lauren are what we would call angry drunks," He informed her.

He took her towards Santana who was sitting there with a confused looking Sam, crying with her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking as her make-up ran down her face, which was streaked with make-up. "Santana happens to be a very weepy and hysterical drunk. And if you'll notice Tina and Mercedes-who does _not _take her alcohol well, by the way-you can see that they are very happy drunks," He said, rolling his eyes as Tina and Mercedes laughed, one on each side of Mike who was slowly sipping his drink and looking nothing short of confused-and maybe a little bit afraid. "Oh, and don't forget Brittany-the one who we all wish we had as our girlfriend," He gestured towards Brittany who was on top of a table, her shirt off, dancing around seductively for Artie. "The stripper drunk," He smirked.

"What's the point of this lesson?" She asked as they reached the bar and he handed her a drink. She rolled her eyes as she took a sip, the cold alcohol burning her throat a little bit. It was vodka. She was sure of that much. "I think I could have figured all of that shit out on my own, thank you very much-and don't say that I can't handle alcohol, alright because this isn't the affects of me about to get drunk. This is me being angry with you for treating me like some sort of goody two shoes all the time. I'm going to prove to you that I'm a bad ass," She said as she threw her head back and finished the drink in one long gulp. He stared at her in amazement as she grabbed the bottle and filled her cup once more. "Cheers to the freaking weekend," She said sarcastically.

"Rachel, I don't think that you're a goody two shoes," He sighed. "I know that you can be bad when you want to be, but I think calling you a bad ass is pushing it a tad too far. You're a good girl and you don't do that kind of stuff. I'm not insulting you, it's just that you're supposed to be sweet and nice. Not the type of girl who goes out and gets drunk for the hell of it. And screw you because you just totally sobered me up and I worked hard to get that good and drunk. I happened to have a plan tonight and you just took my liquid courage away from me, you bitch," He rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to prove to you that I'm more than just my pleated skirts and animal sweaters. If I want to be bad, I can be bad. I can be the life of this party and a bigger slut than a drunken Brittany!" She said, gesturing towards Brittany, who was now on Artie's lap, involved in a very deep make-out session that Rachel doubted she'd remember in the morning. "Just watch me," She said.

"What are you going to do? Rachel," He sighed as she gulped down her drink and emptied the bottle into her cup, chucking it down once more. "Please try and be logical here," He sighed again.

"HEY! Anybody up for a game of spin the bottle? With a fun little twist?" She announced.

* * *

Rachel's game of spin the bottle involved stripping whenever a person refused to kiss the person it had landed on. Everybody, with the exception of a now serious and sober Noah Puckerman and the two designated drivers-Kurt Hummel and Finn Hudson-was so wasted-even Rachel who had gone a little too fast for her first run-that they all agreed without even thinking about it for longer than the required millisecond it took to form the circle and nod in agreement with whatever she said.

"I'll go first," SHe said, taking the bottle in her hand and spinning it, gasping a little as it landed on Blaine Anderson, Kurt's new beau-even if the relationship wasn't even close to being official and the crush was only really one sided as of the current moment. Still, they were so drunk that nothing really made sense, so she leaned forward, grinning slyly. "Blaine Anderson, I'm going to rock your world," She whispered seductively as he leaned in to meet her lips.

Puck's arms crossed over his chest as they kissed for longer than the required minute and a half. In fact, they kissed until Kurt finally commanded them to break apart from each other. Blaine took the bottle and gave it a spin, making it up to Kurt as the bottle landed on him and they kissed for double the time Rachel and he had. Kurt broke apart with a smile at the cat calls being whistled their way.

Kurt gave the bottle a spin and removed his designer blazer as it landed on Puck. Puck didn't mind. There was only one girl-only one person-that he planned on kissing that night, and it bugged him beyond all belief that she'd allow her lips to touch another guy's. That just wasn't kosher in his mind. It was wrong and it wasn't fair to him. After all, he'd played nice since he'd realized he wanted her.

HE gave the bottle a harsh spin, swearing under his breath as it landed on Lauren, his kind-of-girlfriend, who shrugged and leaned forward. He shocked everybody in the group as he reached for his tee shirt and took it off, leaving himself in just a wife beater to cover his chest. He'd not only refused to kiss a female, but one that he had claimed to be so into. That was shocking for Noah Puckerman.

Lauren glared at Puck as she spun the bottle and it landed on Artie who squealed in terror as she reached forward and grabbed him, giving him a kiss that he didn't respond to at all. She smirked at Puck when she pushed Artie away, but Puck was barely even paying her any attention. He took another swig of the beer he'd gotten himself before the game had started and glared at Rachel. He needed his liquid courage back and he needed it fast.

After all, the only people who existed in the world who were one hundred percent honest were extremely little kids who didn't yet realize the terrible side affects that could come along with being honest and telling the truth, and drunken idiots who were too wasted to realize what the hell could go wrong with their lives after the decided to own up to the truth and admit something honestly.

The game went on for about an hour with Rachel kissing Blaine two more times, Finn, Sam-at least twice-Artie, and Mike. She hadn't rejected a single person, even the girls-but Puck had found himself getting jealous of even those kisses, rather than getting his usual satisfaction and turn on from the scene of two girls locking lips and letting their tongues collide. He wanted Rachel for himself.

Which would explain why he'd rejected Santana-which had made her burst into tears as she wondered why he no longer wanted her-Quinn-who had called him a long string of nasty swear words-Brittany, who had taken off even more clothing, and not because of the rules-and Mercedes, who hadn't really cared either way. He'd had to remove his shirt, his shoes, and one sock.

But, when the game broke up and Rachel made her way off to a corner to talk-flirt-with Blaine while Kurt stood idly by like a third wheel and everybody else went off to make-out and gossip, he got dressed again and started drinking once more. Before long, he was so drunk that he knew he would have one of those nights he just assumed had been fun. One of those nights that must have been really fun, because the next morning he wouldn't be able to tell his mother about what he'd done. After all, he was drunker than he'd been upon Rachel's arrival.

He knew that alcohol didn't solve any of his problems. He wasn't some type of alcoholic, after all. He just thought that alcohol was more fun than a glass of warm milk when he was angry. So he drank plenty of it. Especially when he had to stand like a loner and watch the girl who was supposed to be his throw herself at some other guy while one of her best friends looked on jealously. Puck drained the last of his beer and tossed the cup aside before clenching his fists and storming over towards Rachel, an angry scowl to match the harsh glare on his face.

He was sure that this was going to be a very good story. After all, no good stories started with somebody eating a salad. THey started with a very drunk and very angry person who happened to be very jealous. Bad decisions always happened to make the best stories after wards, and he knew that this was probably the worst decision of his life, but he couldn't get his brain to function properly. So, when he reached Rachel, he grabbed her wrist, squeezing tightly, and pulled her roughly towards him, dragging her away from Blaine and Kurt.

"Um, excuse me," Blaine slurred as he staggered forward towards Puck. He was just as drunk as Puck, but it showed more in Blaine. Puck couldn't think straight, and Blaine couldn't function properly. It seemed like a fair enough fight, if it came down to it. Then again, PUck's brain was fried. "But I believe that I was talking to the lady," He said, sounding utterly gallant and one hundred percent stupid. He was drunk and every word was slurred. It was a wonder his words even formed proper sentences. Or consisted of more than one syllable.

"Yeah, well, if you don't mind, I'm just going to cut right in, there," PUck glared at him, turning his back towards Blaine as he stared down at Rachel who was rubbing her wrist and muttering something in Yiddish about how Puck had hurt her and was nothing more than a jerk. "We need to talk, Rachel-I don't 'preciate throwing this party for you just to be 'nored al'night," Puck slurred towards her. Rachel hadn't had anything to drink since the game of Spin The Bottle, except for a bottle of water, and she was quickly started to sober up, so she understood him.

"You're drunk, Noah, and I don't appreciate you interrupting my conversations to yell at me in some sort of drunken speech that's probably exactly what you really think of me. After all, everybody knows that a drunken voice is nothing more than a sober mind. So, what is it? Are you going to call me a loser? Are you going to insult my hair or my wardrobe? Or was this entire night some type of joke, and now I'm going to have pig's blood splattered all over me, because that movie ended with death for everybody. Even the sequel," Rachel rolled her eyes.

Puck didn't give her an answer. Instead, he grabbed her waist and pulled her close, giving her a long, hard kiss right on the lips. When she pushed him off, he gave her a trail of soft, quick kisses from her mouth to her shoulders and then back up, kissing her on the mouth all over again as he held onto her as tightly as possible, clinging to her as though his life depended on it. He slid his tongue across her lips, entering her mouth with it, grinning in triumph as she began to respond to the kiss, before pushing him back and looking up at him with wide eyes.

"PARTY'S OVER!" Puck announced, looking back at everybody behind them. Nobody had paid them any attention during the short make-out session. But now? Everybody was groaning and complaining as they gathered their things and exited the basement. Puck shrugged, not minding their anger that they'd all forget by tomorrow, before leaning in to kiss her once again, smiling as she practically read his thoughts, leaning in to kiss him, backing up so that he was pressing her up against the wall. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Can we go upstairs?" She muttered against his lips. "To my room?" She asked.

"You're drunk." He answered.

"So are you." She shot back.

"Don't argue with logic."

"Don't be noble."

"I'm not taking advantage of you when-"

"Fuck me," Rachel blurted.

"What?"

"Fuck me, Noah," She said.

"I can't just-"

"I don't care about your noble reasons."

"But-"

"Do you want me?"

"We're drunk."

"The truth comes out when people are drunk."

"So you-"

"I want you to take me to my room."

"Why?"

"Because I've been a very bad girl and I should be punished," She said.

Puck had never been one to keep a girl waiting or refuse her. So, he carried her up the stairs, all the way up to her room and flung her onto her bed, jumping next to her and kissing her once again, this time working hard to undress her.

"I love you." Rachel said as her shirt came off. "I love you," She repeated as he slid off her skirt. "I love you," She said as he unclasped her bra and took it off. "I love you," She muttered as he removed her underwear.

"I've always loved you," He told her as she wrinkled his shirt in her hands and yanked it off. "And I've wanted you forever," He said as she tugged off his pants and his boxers. And then blew him away-literally.

"Get up here," He said when she released him to take a gulp of air, he tugged at her, pulling her up towards him as he rolled on top of her, kissing her long and hard as he came inside of her, riding her slowly.

"FASTER!" She moaned excitedly. "Noah, faster," She begged, her nails digging into his shoulders as he started to move faster, going harder and harder. "Fuck," She breathed out as he pressed his lips to hers.

* * *

The next morning, the two woke up wrapped in one another's arms, naked in Rachel's bed.

"Did you mean everything you said?" Rachel asked him softly, turning around to face him, not even bothering to check and see if he was awake. "Noah? Did you mean it?" She asked again.

"Dammit, Rach, I've got a bloody hang-over and it kills. And you screaming at me doesn't help!" He groaned, rubbing his head. "And yes, I meant it, alright? I meant every little word I said, because I love you and I want you. I've always loved you and I've always wanted you. And now I have you," He grinned, reaching out and pulling her close to him once again.

"You have me? I wasn't just another one for you to love and leave? You want to keep me?" She wondered.

"Hell ya...Can I?"

"You sound like Casper."

"Who the hell is Casper?"

"The friendly ghost?"

"What the hell kind of ghost is friendly?"

"It's a movie."

"Must have been a god awful movie if it was about a friendly ghost..."

"Yes."

"Yes the movie sucked?"

"No, I mean, yes, you can keep me."

"Good, because I wasn't planning on taking no as an answer."


	7. Original Song

**Moments that Matter  
A Glee Fan Fiction  
Original Song  
_A/N: I honestly thought this would be the hardest one-shot to write. And it was not only my longest, but (in my own opinion) one of my best. _  
**

She needed to tap into her emotion? Had Finn Hudson honestly just told her that? Was he stupid or just a complete and total hypocrite? He probably didn't even know what those words _meant _and he'd had the audacity to question her about how much emotion she'd poured into a song? He never even understood the songs they sang in glee, despite however many times Mr. Shuester explained the concept to the group. No, Rachel Berry knew how to pour her heart and soul into everything she did. She wasn't afraid to cry. She wasn't afraid to let her anger get the best of her. There was a reason she was the drama queen and head diva of Mckinley after all, and most of it had to do with her way to put her emotions into everything and be overly dramatic.

She seethed over the fact that he thought she couldn't get in touch with her real emotion. It just pissed her off. Just because he had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon didn't mean they all did. Her emotions were complex and hard to figure out. Sometimes she didn't even know what she was really feeling. It was difficult for her to get in touch with her emotions, but she did it. And most people-almost everybody out there-seemed to think she did so flawlessly, without a single error. It was as if she could do any acting task perfectly on the first try without any effort.

She balled her hands into fists as she made her way down the hallway, a fierce, seriousness to her steps. She was angry and she had a purpose. She was going to write a kick ass song that made every single person in that crowd burst into tears as soon as she belted out the first verse. Her power ballad was going to make sure there wasn't a dry eye in the place when she was done.

And that was going to involve a lot of time spent working on the lyrics, working on the notes, making sure she knew exactly which instruments would play the track in the background. And it was going to take a lot of nerve.

Because this solo? It was going to tell Finn that she wasn't so sure she wanted him anymore.

"Woah, Berry-slow down there," Noah Puckerman said, reaching out and stopping her with an arm wrapping around her waist from the front, pulling her into his embrace; a hug from behind, hands locked tightly around her hips.

"Let me go, Puckerman," She rolled her eyes, grabbing at his arms to try and remove them from her. "I'm in a hurry and I don't have time for your nonsense. I'm a very busy person, unlike you happen to be. Some of us have things to do, you know," She told him with a superior look on her face. In reality, she really did enjoy being wrapped in his arms for a lovely embrace. It made her feel safe. She always felt loved when she was there. Still, she needed to keep up appearances, because he wasn't changing his character at all.

"Since when do I happen to be Puckerman to you?" He asked her, frowning down at her with the teasng glint leaving his eyes.

"You're Puckerman when you're being annoying and a jerk. You're Puckerman when you're acting like the other neanderthals who wear those stupid football jerseys and letterman jackets all the time as if that makes them so great and so much better than the rest of us. You can only be Noah to me when you're being sweet and kind. And You're only Puck...well, you're never Puck to me. But that's not important. I really have to go," She pleaded with him.

"I'm being a jerk? Berry, I was just teasing you and trying to make a conversation. How is that being an annoying jerk? When was the last time I tossed a slushy your way? When was the last time I tossed eggs at your house? Come on, Rachel, think about it-how often have I been my old bullying self to you in the past year? That's all behind us now, isn't it? I thought I was like you now-one of us and all that? What changed between us?" He asked with a frown, his expression completely upset by now.

"None of that matters. I really must be going right now, alright? I do happen to be busy, so if you'll just excuse me," She sighed impatiently, looking up at him and tapping her foot to show her hurry.

"What's so important? What's your hurry?" He drawled out with his infamous-and incredibly sexy-half grin already in place.

"I need to work on an original song for Regionals. I absolutely refuse to accept that none of you actually believes we could win with an original song composed by one of our own. And just in case you decide to listen to me, I'd like to be properly prepared," She informed him. "So that I can spend as much time as I'd like to gloating that I did, in fact, tell you all so, and that I was right," She smirked.

"Berry, you know what? People would probably like you a hell of a lot more if you dropped the superior act and stopped using big words all the time. It's really annoying and slightly intimidating. You would have way more friends if you just tried...acting the way you do when we're alone together. You don't use those big words and you don't talk like you weren't from this century. You're just a normal teenage girl with feelings and real emotions. You're not this actress who's always playing a part when it's just you and me, and I miss that when we're at school." He told her, his hazel eyes filling up immediately with nothing less than pure honest. "And I hate hiding that we used to be best friends."

"Nobody told you that you needed to hide that we once were very close with one another, Noah," She rolled her eyes. "You decided to hide that fact on your own accord and I refuse-I absolutely refuse-to be blamed for it. Please don't say that I was the one who decided to end our friendship and act as if it never existed, because I miss it, sometimes, alright?" She told him. "Now, I really do have to go, so if you'd just release your hold on me and allow me to step aside, all would be fine and dandy," She replied.

"You miss our friendship?" He asked her suddenly. His face broke into a broad grin as he spoke, staring down at her with bright eyes and a hopeful expression on his face. "So you want us to be friends again? You never wanted to not be friends? You really miss our old friendship?" He asked her excitedly as he pulled her in for a quick hug that was definitely the best hug she'd ever had in her life. It beat any hug she'd gotten from her friends, any hug Finn had ever given her, and any hid he himself had ever given her before that day. It made her smile as broadly and as brightly as he was.

"Did I or did I not just say that? Have you ever known me to speak words that I didn't mean, besides when I was acting? Actually, don't answer that. Actually, yes, do, because I can't recall a time when I've told an untrue statement in my entire life," She said boldly.

He let go of her with one hand and brought his palm to his face, shaking his head. Hadn't she listened to a single word he'd just said to her? Her big words and odd terminology were a lot part of the reason that she had so few friends. People did not want to be around a girl who acted as if she were smarter than them. Who acted as if she were better than them just because she had a 4.0 GPA, was a member of almost every club the school offered, had a voice to match any others, could dance and act with the best of them, and knew that she was going to get out of this town. Sure, it was true that she was so much better than them, but it didn't need to be reminded to them all the time.

"Why can't you just call it a lie, first of all?" He asked her. "Seriously, Berry, I want our friendship back and I'll do anything to prove that to you and get us back to being best friends and all-because my mom and sister really miss you too-but you have to stop talking like that. What happened to the girl who used to pull pranks all the time at temple and get me into so much trouble?" He wondered.

"She grew up, Noah," She whispered softly.

* * *

Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson had been best friends since they'd met back in the second grade. They'd always been there for one another. They'd always had each other's backs. If Finn needed help when it came to girl trouble, or just needed a guy to talk to, Puck was there for him, because Puck _got _it. He understood what Finn was going through. When Puck's dad took off and left his family, the only person Puck would let into his life, with the exception of Rachel, was Finn. And Finn had done everything he could at eight years old to help Puck. Which made Puck feel eternally in debt to the tall quarterback, meaning he'd do absolutely anything to make the big lard smile.

Of course, sleeping with Finn's girlfriend back in sophomore year probably wasn't one of the ideal ways to do that, but that had been a mix of drunken feelings, stupidity, and lust. It had nothing to do with real feelings towards one another, and Finn had understood that after a matter of time and the two had become quite close again, their friendship falling right back into place.

But, there were still some things that Puck would do that made Finn angry. There were still a few things that Puck would say that annoyed Finn. Not his bullying ways-Finn had always been right by his side for that. No, the only time Finn's disapproval came into place was when Puck was doing an actual good deed and being nice to a fellow Jew. Finn only thought poorly of Puck when he saw him talking to Rachel; touching Rachel; giving Rachel a ride home; looking at Rachel; or, most recently, singing with Rachel and dancing with her.

There was something about the tiny little brunette that made both boys weak in the knees (and quite hard in other places). There was something about her that made them both fight over her due to real feelings-something even Quinn Fabray hadn't been able to do to them.

They'd always had their life long pact of bros before hoes, but what happened when the girl they both wanted was far from a whore?

He shook his head as he watched her leave his arms and walk away, her final words killing him slowly.

What did that mean? That she'd grown up? And why had she said those words so sadly, as if her life were so god damned awful? There was no way her life could have been any worse to her than his own had been.

He'd lost his father, who'd just up and left him because he hadn't wanted to be a part of the family anymore. Instead, he'd rather go off and raise Puck's half-brother Jake. But...Rachel's mother had turned her back on Rachel. She'd decided she didn't want to mother a teenage girl. But, Puck had lost Beth-who had replaced Rachel in Shelby, her mother's life. It seemed that every negative event in either of their lives was related. It was all connected somehow.

Like her break-up with Finn, which had been _all _his fault-not her words, but instead, his own.

No, she hadn't wanted to start making out. She'd refused him when he'd first offered it to her. But then, in the middle of her talking and crying, something inside of Puck snapped when he looked into her eyes and noticed that she'd never looked more beautiful before. SO, he'd leaned in and kissed her. And it had all progressed from there. And when they'd been about to go on for more, he'd stopped her-not because of the reasons he'd said allowed, that he didn't want to hurt Finn. Instead, he'd stopped her because he didn't want to be her rebound guy. He didn't want to be the guy she slept with because she wanted to feel wanted and loved. He wanted to be the guy she slept with because she loved him.

Because, in all reality, that was how he felt about her. He'd loved her since the very first day he'd met her at the JCC. He'd loved her al through elementary school when cliques didn't matter and she wasn't a strange little loser girl. He'd loved her in middle school, when social circles were created and theirs did not line up. He'd loved her when she'd told him to slushy him for the first time, marking herself as a loser and him as the popular jerk who lived to bully anybody. He'd loved her throughout high school when he'd taken to tossing kids that messed with her in the dumpsters.

"What the hell just happened right there?" Santana Lopez asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she appeared besides her best guy friend and her ex-sex buddy. "Did I just hear you say that you missed _Berry's _friendship?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Don't start with me Satan. I'm not in the mood, alright? And if you start about her, I'm not going to be nice. I'm going to scream and get ready to punch you right in the face, because it's not cool to mess with her. It was never funny, alright? And everything I ever did to her? It was all her idea! And the kids I tossed into dumpsters? It wasn't because of Kurt's sexuality or Jewfro's hair! It was because of how they treated her," He snapped, looking down at the tall, leggy Latino with the chest that could almost rival Kim Kardashian's.

"I wasn't going to-wait a second...you don't want to be _friends _with Berry!" Santana gasped.

"The hell I don't. I wouldn't lie to her, Satan-I only lie to people I can't really stand. People like...oh, I don't know-you? I've never lied to her before in my life..." He said, even though it was a lie. He'd lied to her about the fact that he'd been planning on breaking up with her. In reality, he didn't care how much action he got. He didn't care that she wanted Finn. He was just happy that he got her.

"You love her, Puckerman. You love Berry, and you won't admit it, because even now that she's not with Hudson anymore, you're afraid that you're not good enough for her. You're too worried about being rejected by her to just go and tell her that you love her," Santana realized, a small smile forming on her face.

"So what if I love her?" Puck mumbled. "She's still all caught up on Finn. Besides, she's a _good _girl. She wouldn't want to be with me," He shook his head.

"The hell she wouldn't. Puckerman, she's picked you before. She's dated you before. And, whether you like it or not, she keeps coming back to you. So stop being such a baby and just let her love you! All she needs is a way to realize that you care about her and for herself to wake up and finally see that the guy she wants to be with has been in front of her face the entire time. Anyways, I know another reason you don't want to admit it. You're afraid of what people will say. Well, news flash? I've gotten to know Berry, and she ain't that different from me. She's just nicer than the bitch that I am, which makes people walk all over her. Now, make your freaking move before she goes back to the Jolly Green Giant," Santana said, giving him a shove towards the door.

He shook his head, mock-glaring after her, as he made his way towards the door, hurrying up a little bit when he spotted Rachel standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at her phone in exasperation, looking as if she were ready to chuck it at the ground and storm off. He'd never actually seen her look that angry before, and it scared him a little bit.

"Hey, Berry, what's the matter?" He frowned as he walked towards her.

"My fathers just called me to say they're running late and won't be able to bring me home from school. Since Kurt gave me a ride to school, I'm stuck without my car at the moment, so I'm going to have to walk home," She sighed.

"Hey, Berry? Can I let you in on a little secret?" He asked her, leaning in close to her. She rolled her eyes, but she needed to bit her lower lip to continue to giggle and slight smile that was trying to work its way to the front of her expression. She would hate to admit that she found him amusing, and he knew that. He understood that. But it never made him stop trying.

"What is it, Noah?" Rachel asked with a sigh.

"We're the only ones around. That means you don't need to keep up this whole 'smarter than everybody else' act that you enjoy so much. You can use smaller words that actually make sense!" He told her teasingly.

"If you're just going to insult me for my word choices when I have a problem, than I'm just going to be going now. I really don't need to deal with this with right and I don't wish to have any more problems. As I told you before, I'm quite busy today and I don't have time for any games, especially your games that always result with getting me into trouble," She told him, crossing her arms. He half-expected her to go as far as to stomp her foot.

"If you go back to being the normal Berry that I actually enjoy spending time with, I'll give you a ride home. But, you're going to have to tell me what's got you so worked up, and if you say you're busy and leave it at that, then I'm going to leave you stranded here and I won't even look back at you," He was lying in his threat. It was empty, of course, because he would never be able to leave her. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. If she did decide to walk, he'd end up driving as slowly as he could to keep up with her the entire way to her house.

"If you must now," She rolled her eyes.

"I must," He cut in and she gave him a sharp, stern look before she sighed and went on to continue her speech.

"I previewed my original song for Finn this afternoon and he told me that he doesn't believe I'm using enough emotion in my song lyrics, and that simply bothered me. So, now I'm on my way home to create a power ballad to tell him exactly what I think of him and break the news to him that I've moved on, despite the poor choices I continue to make between him and the new interest in my life," She explained.

"Get in the truck. I'll bring you home, alright? But I'm picking the music," He winked at her, choosing to ignore her hint that she'd moved on from Finn to somebody that she'd some-what been with before. He didn't want to get his hopes up.

* * *

Quinn Fabray was a girl in a mission.

She needed to win back the boy she was madly in love with. The boy who was McKinley high school's golden boy, so that she could ensure her right as Prom Queen that year. She needed to get Finn Hudson back under her watchful eye where she could keep him under lock and key.

After all, it only made sense that the head cheerleader-not that she was one anymore, but she'd quit the CHeerios on her own free will-and the star quarterback should be together-despite the fact that it was currently basketball season where Finn was not as big of a star. She was a girl who was all about popularity, and becoming prom queen would make sure she won it.

After all, she was already the absolute best looking girl in the school. She had long, toned legs that she made sure were constantly tanned and perfect. Her muscles were perfectly conditioned and her torso was flat. She had slender curves that were in all the right places. Her green eyes were big, round, and bright, covered by perfect eyelashes and carefully arched eyebrows that were just thin enough. She had a perfectly symmetrical face, mostly due to the surgery she'd had years ago. And her hair was long, wavy, and blonde.

All she really needed now, to make her reign as the queen of the school official, was a trophy boyfriend to parade around with as she clung to his arm. Finn Hudson was, of course, the best choice. Unfortunately, from the stares he gave Rachel-despite the fact that they were actually dating-she knew she needed to work hard to get his actual, real love for her back. She knew she'd messed up, big time, when she'd slept with Puck, but that didn't matter. It shouldn't matter anymore, because Rachel had also cheated with Puck, and he clearly still wanted her back. So, Quinn was going to do everything in her power to make sure that Rachel and Finn never got back together, and that Finn fell in love with her all over again.

"Hey, Rachel!" Quinn smiled, hooking her arm through Rachel's own as she joined her, matching her step for step in their walk down the hallway the following day at school.

The key to her plan being a success was going to be very hard to obtain, though, because it involved befriending Rachel Berry. She'd not only need to become friends with the girl, but she'd need to gain her trust.

"What do you want?" Rachel sighed, rolling her eyes at the blonde before her. Quinn realized then that it would be even harder than she'd previously thought to get Rachel on her side. After all, she had been nothing but a bully and a bitch to Rachel. Still, she'd never taken Rachel as the type to actually hold a grudge. Apparently, she did. And that meant trouble for Quinn and her plan.

"I think your idea for an original song that one of us composes is brilliant! It's really going to broadcast who we are as a club, and make us stand out. That's what competition is all about, isn't it? Giving the judges something to remember you by!" She gushed happily, flashing her brightest, friendliest smile at Rachel as she spoke on. "And I thought it would be totally awesome if you decided to let me help you with your song! We could write it together, and maybe we could ever perform it together, if you wanted?" Quinn wondered.

"As lovely as that offer sounds-and while I'm sure it's not selfish in any way," Rachel said, and Quinn could practically feel the sarcasm of her words as she spoke. It made her cringe a little. "I've already begun to write my original song, and I already have a song writing partner. So, perhaps we could work on a song some other time. At the present moments, Noah and I are preparing a song for our upcoming competition, and that song is going to completely and totally kick ass. That's going to be what wins us Regionals," Rachel said with a bright smile in return for Quinn's as she unhooked her arm from the blonde's and walked away, ignoring Quinn's shocked expression at how somebody had stood up to her.

"RACHEL!" Quinn snapped.

Rachel sigehd as she turned on her heel, a lovely little pivot as she crossed her arms and faced the blonde. There was a bored expression on her face, as if she couldn't wait to get away from the popular girl.

And it wasn't just because Rachel looked afraid. Actually, she didn't look terrified in the slightest. It was as if she couldn't get wait to leave Quinn's presence because she just didn't care about Quinn. She was acting as if she couldn't be bothered by the popular blonde's obvious anger at her, and that just wasn't right. Nobody acted indifferent around Quinn Fabray.

"What? What could you possibly have to say to me? What else could you have to add? You made your offer and I refused you. Typically, that would be where the conversation ended, unless you'd like to beg me, which I highly doubt, because why would the perfect Quinn Fabray have to plead with the loser Rachel Berry to get her way? Shouldn't I just be bending over backwards to make you happy?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "Quinn, not everybody loves you, alright? You're not popular because you have friends. It's because people are afraid of you," She said boldly.

"When are you ever going to grow up and realize that Finn doesn't love you? Trying to constantly make him jealous with Puck isn't going to work anymore. He's moved on, and in case you've yet to notice, he happens to be dating me now. He no longer cares about you or your personal life when it comes to your relationships. He wants to be with me-not you-me. So it's about time you moved out of your fantasy world and realized that life isn't a fairy tale. There aren't happy endings all the time. God, Rachel, when are you ever going to just get it right?" Quinn snapped, not quite realizing how cruel she'd been until Rachel turned on her heel, eyes filled with tears, and walked away as quickly as possible.

* * *

Noah Puckerman had always been one to be a perfect gentleman. Perhaps at school he acted more like a player. A jerk. An ass hole. Anybody could insert their favorite word there, and it would most likely fit with his persona at school. But, when he was outside of school and away from the people who were always judging him, he was a perfect gentleman. He always _asked _to meet his date's parents, and the girl was always the one to tell him no. Based solely on his in-school character, he was not the type of boy that a girl would vote "Best to Bring Home To Mom" in the yearbook. The person who would win that would probably be brilliant Mike Chang or naive Finn Hudson, or even nerdy Sam Evans. But not Noah Puckerman.

Still, he knew what it meant to be polite, and he did use manners. His teachers were all amazed at how polite he would act when he went to make up the work he missed after skipping a class-he always went to get his assignments, after all. Parents he did meet were left in awe at his use of mister, misses, sir and ma'am. Even the cougars were impressed by his 'pleases' and 'thank you's' when he was talking to them. He also knew how to treat a girl. He would never insult them, never purposefully bring them down.

And he would never yell at a girl. He wouldn't swear at her or get into a fight with her. He'd get sarcastic and lose his cool-he'd done that quite a few times during Quinn's pregnancy-but he would _never _insult her or make her feel like less of a person. And it bothered him when anybody, even another girl, did that to a female. Especially when the girl was one Rachel Berry.

So, when he'd found out about Quinn's outburst towards the girl of his dreams, he was beyond angry. He wanted to put her in her place, and he was going to be throwing away all of his former concepts about how to treat a girl by doing so.

He wasn't sure if he hated her more for how she'd treated Rachel or making him throw away his morals.

"QUINN!" He snapped, storming towards her as she talked to some of the Cheerios who still worshipped the blonde haired girl.

The tall, curvy beauty pushed a strand of hair around behind her ear as she turned around slowly, smirking with a cock of her head as she faced the boy who was now standing right in front of her.

"Yes, Puck?" She asked with an eye roll.

"Why the hell did you say that to Rachel? Why the hell do you always have to make her feel bad about herself? What the hell is wrong with you that all you ever do is bring her down? I know that you're jealous because Finn's still into her and all, but that doesn't mean you have to tear her down! What are you so worried about? That she's going to steal your prom queen title or something?" He asked, crossing his strong arms across his broad chest, making the skimpily dressed, gorgeous cheerleaders sigh as they studied him, eyes locked on him.

A while ago, that would have made him smirk at them all and begin collecting numbers, working out a schedule for when he'd be taking them each on a date. But that was the old Noah Puckerman. The new one had become a a one-woman type of guy, and that girl was Rachel. Nothing in the world could change that. There was no force strong enough in the world to make him give a second glance to another girl.

"Rachel's not interested in that shit, okay? She's better than all that popularity crap that everybody in this school worries about all the time. She's above that, and I'm not going to let you make her feel bad about herself." He barked at her.

That was his way around breaking every single rule he'd made for himself. He wasn't going to actually yell at her. He wasn't going to allow himself to scream at her. He refused to let her make him shout. Instead, he would snap, he would bark, he would raise his voice. That would just give her more power. He wouldn't let her play the victim anymore. NOt this time.

"You really think she's not interested in popularity and she's above that? Well, you know what, even if that is true-which I doubt, because, well, she kind of went after Finn who was the most popular guy in the school-what makes you think she'd want to pick you? It's not like you're above that. Look at you, acting like some kind of jerk all the time just so nobody can get too close to you. You want everybody to be afraid of you, because at least then they won't hate you. You have power when you're the school's head bad ass, aren't you? But you're not really that guy. You're not really strong and without emotion. If you didn't have emotions, you wouldn't be defending her." Quinn smirked.

"You're right," Puck shrugged. "I do have feelings. And I do have emotions. I'm not a complete and total, grade-A bad ass, but I don't act like I am because I'm afraid people won't like me. I act like I am because I know what it's like to get hurt and lose everything, and I'm not letting that happen anymore. Now, why are you a total bitch? Have we ever tried to analyze that one? Because I've got a few theories as to why you're such a complete and total bitch, and unlike your made-up reasons, mine are real," He snapped at her. "You're a scared little girl who's afraid of anybody rising above her, so you have to bring everybody else down in the world. Your only joy is hurting people," Puck said.

He shook his head at her in disgust, loving her shocked reaction with the wide eyes and the dropped jaw as he turned around and walked away, only to end up walking right into Rachel when he got a few steps away from the blonde temptress.

"You didn't have to do that," Rachel said.

He knew she was only pretending to be strong though. He could tell from how red her eyes were. He could tell by the faded make-up that she hadn't bothered to try and fix. He could tell from how hoarse and low her voice was. This was all an act. She was trying to make it look like Quinn hadn't gotten to her; like the insults hadn't hurt her, but in reality? They'd killed her.

"I actually did have to do that. She's needed to hear that for a while and it was about time somebody said it. And it's nice to have been able to clear up all the shit people say about me and my bad-assness. I mean, come on-you've got to admit, getting you to admit that I have incredible guns makes me the most bad ass guy in this school. The baddest rebel without a cause this school has ever seen, right?" He smirked down at her. But it wasn't his usual smirk. It was an amused smile as he looked down at her, the girl he loved so dearly. "And besides, I'm sick of her talking down on you like she's so much better, because she's nothing compared to you." He told her honestly.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Rachel asked softly, lowering her head. And that killed him. He hated that she felt like people shouldn't be nice to her. Nobody should ever have to wonder why they were being treated like an actual person. It should be expected for them. Especially somebody as sweet and kind as Rachel. She was nice to everybody, and the end result was that she got walked all over like she was a piece of shit. She wasn't a doormat, yet that was what the rest of the school seemed to think of her as.

"Why do you even have to ask? I understand that I've bullied you before and all, but I never talked down to you. And I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you were less of a person, because you're incredible. You're nice and sweet. You're a star, Berry, and you shouldn't have to expect people to ridicule and insult you. People only do that because they're jealous of you anyways. And...you know what? When you sing that song you're going to write for Regionals and we all win because your words with your voice throw everybody else out of the water, well, then you're going to get the last laugh. And you're going to be the bigger person." He said, lowering his head a little bit to hide his blush from her before hurrying away.

* * *

In the weeks leading up to Regionals, almost every member of the glee club wrote up an original song. Mercedes had, of course, been to broadcast her individuality while also showing off her incredible voice. Santana's had been a seductive love melody to Sam in order to insult Brittany by making her jealous, but only ending up hurting Sam's feelings. Puck's song had been a carefully written love song meant for Lauren. It's sole purpose had been to break up with her without causing himself any pain that he was sure would come from Lauren if he was the one to dump her. He swore that angering her would cause the break-up. The long hadn't worked well. It had impressed her.

Luckily, for Puck, Lauren had gotten the hint and set him free, allowing the two still remain as close friends with their bad ass reputations still in tact.

The break-up left him free to worry about getting Rachel. He could pursue her now without any questions being asked, and Rachel would not be considered a home wrecker once again.

Unfortunately for him, the timing was all off, because Rachel was stuck working her ass off on her song. The funny thing about the song was that Quinn had ended up helping her write it, without even knowing it. Her words in the hallway from that day had been her inspiration for the lyrics. Nobody was allowed to hear her song. She rehearsed separately from the rest of the club, to make sure that when she finally performed it for the first time in front of the club at Regionals, they were just as in awe of it as the audience would be.

Now, Rachel was up on stage, after telling Puck to make sure he listened to her lyrics very carefully, because she meant every word she'd written. She'd told Finn the exact same thing. The music that she'd carefully written was starting to play and she was taking a deep breath as she prepared to sing the song that would change everything. The song that she'd wrote.

_"What have I done? I wish I could run/ Away from this ship going under/Just trying to help/Hurt everyone else/Now I feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders/What can you do when your good isn't good enough/And all that you touch tumbles down/My best intentions keep making a mess of things/I just wanna fix it somehow/But how many times will it take/Oh, how many times will it take for me, to get it right? To get it right?" _She belted out the first verse of the song and the chorus. She could see Finn Puck looking out from the front of the lines, right where they were about the enter for the stage.

_"Can I start again with my faith shaken/'Cause I can't go back and undo this/I just have to stay and face my mistakes/But if I get stronger and wiser, I'll get through this/What can you do when your good isn't good enough/And all that you touch tumbles down/My best intentions keep making a mess of things/I just wanna fix it somehow/But how many times will it take/Oh, how many times will it take for me, to get it right?_" She locked eyes with Puck in the back of the room, basking in the glow of his smile that was flashed right at her, encouraging her to keep up with the good work; telling her that the song was amazing; telling her that she was doing great. He wasn't getting it.

_"So I throw my fist up/Throw a punch in the air/And accept the truth/That sometimes life isn't fair/Yeah, I'll send out a wish/I'll send up a prayer/And finally someone will see, how much I care!" _Her voice grew stronger as Puck's smile faltered a little bit, turning into a look of confusion as he and Finn led their lines towards the stage for their entrance in the performance. The took their places on the stairs set up behind her as she finished the song.

_"OH, what can you do when your good isn't good enough?And all that you have tumbles down/My best intentions keep making a mess of things/I just wanna fix it somehow/Oh but how many times will it take/Oh, how many times will it take to get it right." _Her voice began to get softer as she finished.

_"Get it right," _She finished with a soft voice as the music faded into the incredible song the entire club had written.

This song was much more upbeat with a faster tempo in a pop-like feel to it.

_"Yeah, you may think that I'm a zero," _Rachel began the next song, making her way towards Quinn with a smirk on her face. "_But, hey! Everyone you wanna be, probably started off like me/You may say that I'm a freak show,"_ She started back towards the front as Santana twirled across the stage, muttering about how she didn't care (I don't care!) _"But, hey, give me just a little time/I bet you're gonna change your mind/All the dirt you've been throwing my way/It ain't so hard to take-that's right/'Cause I know that one day, you'll be screaming my name/And I'll just look away-that's right," _She sang out, all of her feelings she'd ever felt taking over as the song went on.

* * *

"WE WON!" Rachel screamed, throwing her arms in the air and jumping up and down excitedly. "WE DID IT!" She squealed, turning around and flinging herself into the arms of the person closest to her.

"I know," He whispered into her hair as he lifted her off the ground, his arms around her waist as he held her close.

"Did you like my song?" She asked him, a large smile on her face that he knew would be there no matter what he answered her. She seemed so cheerful, as if nothing could destroy her. He'd never seen her so happy before. The smile seemed to take over her face, as if it could tear her face right in half. It was so bright, it was almost blinding.

"Of course I did, babe," He laughed, setting her back on the ground. The rest of the club had hurried off to see their trophy and stand by it, shaking hands and sharing hugs with Mr. Shuester, leaving the couple to stand there alone in their embrace for everybody in the crowd to see.

"DId you get what it was saying?" She wondered.

"I'm hoping that I understood it right, Berry." He whispered to her softly, his voice low and deep. It was such a beautiful sound. She wanted to hear him talk forever, but now wasn't the time for that. "Tell me if I am, alright?" He asked her, leaning down close until their lips were almost touching. "Am I getting warmer?" He wondered as he pressed his lips to hers.

She lifted herself onto her tiptoes and reached to wrap her arms around his neck. He slid his hands from her cheeks down to her hips, lifting her off the ground as his arms worked their way around her waist, holding her just as he had before, just much closer this time.

"Was I right?" He asked, breaking the kiss as he stared at her, breathing heavy, ignoring the looks from everybody else in the club. Their foreheads were pressed against once another's, and he waited anxiously for her response, even though he was fairly certain he knew what it was. Instead of answering with words though, she went right back in for the kiss.

"I love you," She whispered against his lips.

"I know," He told her, muttering the words back as he kept on kissing her. He didn't care that everybody and anybody could see. He just wanted to let her know. "I love you too, Berry. And I want you to be my girlfriend, okay?" He wondered with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah, I think I could go for that." She grinned up at him as she reached in to kiss him again, loving the way he smiled against the kiss at her guarantee that they were dating-that they were exclusive. That they were together and nobody could mess with that. Because she loved knowing that he wanted that as much as she had wanted it for weeks.


	8. New York

**Moments That Matter  
A Puckleberry One-Shot Series  
New York**

Her bright, cheerful smile was blinding, but that wasn't a surprise to Noah Puckerman. Rachel Berry had never needed braces in her life-her teeth were perfectly straight in a flawless, sparkly white color. Her smile was large, almost taking over her entire face. She'd been smiling from the second they'd finished their performance, and he was fairly certain it was all because of that stupid kiss that she'd shared with Finn Hudson after their duet that had started the New Direction's performance. According to Jesse St. James, that kiss was what was going to cost them the entire competition. And Puck really hoped that it did, because Finn Hudson was being a selfish jack ass by kissing her like that.

Still, when they saw the list and the fact that their name was not in the top ten, it killed him a little bit to watch as that smile faltered, before the corners turned downwards to form a frown. She lowered her head, shaking her head as she ran a hand nervously throw her hair. Finn made a move towards her, reaching out to wrap an arm around her, but she shook her head, pushing him away from her before running away, turning on her heel as she took off, heading out of the hotel where the competition was being held. Finn froze, moving to go after her, but Puck stopped him, reaching out and taking his wrist, not allowing him another step towards the door. He refused to let Finn upset Rachel even more than he already had.

"Don't go near her. She doesn't need you right now. And you what? She didn't fall for you on that stage. She fell for that song. And you and I both know that you weren't the guy that wrote that song. You're not the one she wants anymore. You need to get that through your head. And even if she was still in love with you, she still wouldn't need you right now. SHe needs somebody who understands how she feels. Not somebody with a goofy smile that can only make her laugh," Puck growled, looking up at Jesse with a strained expression on his face. "And you're the only one here who knows what she's going through, so go freaking make sure she's okay, or I'll kick you ass like I've wanted to for a year," He glared at him.

"What the hell is going on here? Since when do you even care about Rachel? I thought you hated her? You and her were never close, all you ever did was make out. Now you're suddenly worried about her? Now you want to protect her? What's in this for you?" Finn asked, crossing his arms as he glared down at the boy who was finally bis best friend again. That was all going to end shortly though, as both boys were in love-heads over heels in love-with the same girl. And they had Jesse St. James as a competitor for her heart as well. "That song was about her. You wrote a freaking love song about Rachel, didn't you? DId you expect to sing it with her, too?" Finn glared.

"I'm not dealing with this right now," Puck said, pushing him off of him and turning towards Jesse, who was still just standing there. "Are you just going to stand there and continue to look like a freaking vampire or something? And damn, the bitch is affecting how I talk now, too," Puck shook his head. "SHe just ran out onto the streets of New York City. I know we all act like we hate her and all, but she's our leader, and she's sort of the only thing that got us here, so if you don't mind, I'm going to go find her, because apparently nobody else has the nerve to get off their loser asses and find her," Puck shook his head in disgust as he stormed away from the group and walked outside, looking for a sign of the girl he loved.

He sighed in relief when he found her leaning against the wall to the right of the door, her face buried in her hands as her shoulders shook. She was crying, and if there was one thing that Puck could never deal with when it came to girls, it was their tears. He hated crying girls, because he didn't know how to cheer them up. All he knew how to do was seduce them, and that wasn't going to help him here.

Besides that, it really sucked when Berry cried, because he honestly did have a soft spot for the girl. Hence when he'd stood up for her, telling everybody in the club that he actually sort of liked her, defending her against Santana Lopez. Rachel Berry had always been Noah Puckerman's weakness, the only thing that made him less of a bad ass than he really was. And she always would be.

Of course, he'd also always been able to make her smile. He wasn't sure what it was about the conversations the two of them shared, but somehow he managed to make he smile and giggle. He'd done it countless times before, and he was going to do it again. He just had to figure out exactly what he'd done the other times he'd tried his best to make her happy again.

"Hey, why the hell are you crying? I mean, I guess if I kissed Finn Hudson on the middle of the stage where everybody could see, I'd want to cry, too, because I heard he's a god awful kisser, but I thought you knew that by now," Puck blurted, walking towards her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him with a little squeal of protest as she relented and relaxed in his embrace.

"I'm not crying because of the kiss. I'm crying because we _lost _because of that stupid kiss, and it didn't even mean anything. That song he wrote, it was just beautiful and it made me...it made me feel something that wasn't real. I don't love him. It was just that song...I can't believe that _he _wrote something so lovely," She sighed. THere was that word again. The one she'd used to describe his arms sophomore year.

Puck tensed as he held her, starting to walk down the street. He wanted to put some distance between them and the rest of the club. Besides that, though, he knew exactly where he was taking her. He'd had it planned as a victory celebration after they won, but now it was going to end up being a way to cheer her up. Still, though, it bothered him that she thought Finn had written the song.

"I know Finn didn't write the song, Noah," Rachel said.

"Well, it took you long enough to realize that," He rolled his eyes as he slid his arm from her shoulders, taking her hand in his.

"Lauren's lucky to have such an incredible boyfriend," Rachel told him, a smile beginning to form on her face.

"Lauren broke up with me a while ago," He shrugged.

"Oh, Noah, I'm so sorry..."Rachel blurted out, but the smile proved she wasn't sad about this fact.

Puck shrugged, giving the indication that he really didn't care.

"If that song wasn't about Lauren...who was it about?" Rachel asked.

"Don't worry about it, alright?" Puck shook his head again as they walked on.

"Where are we going?" She wondered, her tears stopping.

She wasn't completely happy, but it was a start.

"I got you tickets for a show. On Broadway...I think you'll like it-it's _Wicked," _He told her with a smirk.

"You got me...oh, my god! Noah, you are the best friend in the entire world!" Rachel squealed as she stopped and hugged him.

Rachel Berry had stopped on the middle of a busy New York side walk in order to hug him, tightly.

"S'nothing," He blushed as they started walking again.

Yeah, Noah Puckerman actually blushed because of a freaking _hug _from Rachel Berry, the most annoying and biggest loser in the entire school. It was just a little messed up that he was actually blushing. Because that wasn't bad ass.

He'd gotten the tickets a few weeks after Regionals, using all of his pool cleaning money that he actually used for spending-he'd been saving up all year-and they were incredible tickets. And the show was for later that night.

But, still, he was going to make sure she wasn't back at the hotel until after the show, where she'd be at her happiest point. And that gave him extra time to cheer her up. He could take her to the park, and then take her out to eat before the show. ANd he would do anything to make her smile.

"Noah, why are you always so nice to me? I mean, you used to be a bully and a jerk to me, but ever since you've joined the Glee club, you've been nothing less than a gentleman to me," She wondered, her voice soft.

"Okay, no-none of that. There will no tears during our..."He paused, not sure of what he was supposed to call whatever it was they were doing. He knew what he wanted to call it-what it was meant to have been-but he didn't want to pressure her.

"Our date? I mean, is that an alright thing to call it? Or am I just assuming things or something..."She lowered her head, blushing a little bit, but she was smiling now, rather than crying.

"Yeah, Rach, it's our date," He smiled at her. "And I won't allow any tears during it, alright? We're going to be happy and cheerful and you're going to have a damn good time, alright?" He ordered her playfully.

"You're funny, Noah," She giggled, tightening her grip on his hand. He sighed in relief. She was grinning now-almost that same bright smile she got whenever she performed. He'd managed to fulfill his duties.

Now it was time for him to try and figure out a way to get exactly what he wanted-what he'd wanted since they'd left for New York. He was going to go back to Lima with Rachel Berry on his arm as his girlfriend. He didn't care what it took or how long it took him. He was going to make sure that Rachel was dating him by the time their plane landed in Ohio the next night. He wasn't going to let Finn, who'd lied about a song, steal her from him. And Jesse wasn't getting her back, despite the money he'd spent on a flight to New York with no plans made in advance.

He's lost Rachel too many times in his life to count. And each time had been more heartbreaking for him than the next one. And each and every one of those times had pretty much been the result of Finn Hudson deciding that he was jealous and wanted her back. Well, this time the almighty Finn could be the one to lose the girl, because Rachel was going to be Noah Puckerman's by the end of their trip in New York, even if there was only about twenty four more hours of the trip left. He would make it happen.

He'd had to work miracles before. After all, he'd dated her before, and that had been a big enough challenge. Not to mention trying to get Quinn Fabray to give her virginity to him-which he'd managed to do in half the time he'd suspected it would take. He'd also dated Mercedes Jones and Lauren Zizes, getting them to leave their protective bubbles where they never dated anybody. He was a master of doing the impossible when it came to girls, and that wasn't going to have any exceptions. Especially if one of them was going to end up being FInn Hudson.

"Am I allowed to ask why you followed me out? Were you elected to or something, or did you decide to come help me on your own. I mean...well, why'd you come after me and not Finn or Jesse?" She asked, lowering her head. He lowered his as well. He couldn't lie to her and say that he'd stormed out before anybody else could react. But if he told the truth that he'd stopped Finn from chasing after her, then he'd risk losing her again, or risk making his feelings towards her obvious, and that was one thing he didn't want to do.

* * *

"You're a terrible Jew," Rachel Berry shook her head in disgust.

She and Puck had decided to have dinner at a little diner a few blocks away from the theater where they'd be watching the show-she'd text Kurt to tell him that they'd be back to the hotel later, and would be enjoying the sights on their last night there. At the diner, Rachel had ordered a simple salad, doing her best to remain true to her Kosher diet and her Vegan ways. Puck, on the other hand, had ordered a double bacon cheeseburger than looked as if it could barely fit into his mouth. With chili cheese fries. He was disgusting.

"Have you ever _tasted _bacon before?" Puck asked, lowering his burger-which he'd already taken a large bite out of. "Wait, never mind. That was a stupid question. Of course you haven't," He shook his head.

"And what does that mean?" Rachel asked him indignantly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're a vegan, Rach," Puck rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying something negative about you or your personality or how you act, Berry, so calm down," He said, leaning back as he watched her with an amused smirk. "You're surprised I know that, aren't you? Did you forget who came over at eleven o'clock at night the last time Finn forgot you were a Vegan and I had to hold your hair while you threw up, because you thought it was so disgusting that there was pepperoni on the pizza?" Puck wondered, recalling the time Finn had ordered his favorite pizza-where the slices of pepperoni were hidden under the cheese so Rachel hadn't realized there was meat there until she'd already eaten it.

Rachel frowned as she remembered that, lowering her head as a blush started to come across her cheeks. She'd fled Finn's house almost immediately, forgetting that he'd brought her there. She'd called Puck to come get her in a freak-out moment where she hadn't been thinking, and he'd picked her up as soon as he could get to her. He'd driven her home as she cried and then followed her inside, holding her hair and wiping her face-even holding her while she was in tears-as she tried to get all of the horrible meat out of her system. After he'd left that night, she'd been stuck lying in bed thinking about just how unattractive she must have seemed to him at that moment.

"Oh, god, I can't believe I called you and not Kurt or Mercedes...that was probably one of the most unattractive things I've ever done in my life. I can't believe you saw that," She said, burying her head in her hands.

"I'm pretty sure you've seen me have my moments as well. And mine were probably a little bit worse than you. Didn't you come walking into my room and catch me in the middle of something that was very-"He stopped as her face turned even redder and she pushed her food away, claiming to have lost her appetite. He rolled his eyes at her dramatics.

Still, she remembered that day perfectly. She'd been coming over to help him babysit his little sister and his mother had sent her upstairs to get him. When she'd opened the door-she'd never knocked when entering any room in the Puckerman house, because it was like a second home for her-she'd been appalled by what Puck was doing. And she'd done her very best to block it from her memory, but it was always coming back to her, especially when she remembered the picture that he'd had his eyes focused on while he'd been doing it.

"How about we throw all of our disturbing, freaky and disgusting-as well as highly unattractive-memories under the bush?" Puck offered her with a smile, popping a fry into his mouth as he finished his sentence.

"That works for me," Rachel agreed happily.

"Good, because it would be really awkward if I had to bring up a particular moment when I found your diary and read all about your little crush on one particular dancer who just so happens to go by the name of Mike Chang..."Puck teased her. Rachel's jaw dropped as she began to protest that that had been years ago, back in middle school. "I'm just messing with you, Berry. I'm not gonna tell Mike and have TIna go all ninja on my ass when he dumps her for you," PUck rolled his eyes with a laugh.

"As if Mike would break up with Tina for me," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Tina's quite beautiful, and she's rather attractive. She also has a wonderful personality and an incredible voice. She's a marvelous dancer. Why would Mike consider leaving somebody who's close to perfect-especially with her brains and passion-for somebody as average as I am?" Rachel wondered.

"Average? Berry, do you freaking know what average means, because you are not average in any way." Puck rolled his eyes. "You're voice sends you way beyond average, and I don't think that this is the appropriate time or place to start talking about how your body pushes your off the scale of attractive girlness," Puck told her. And, as Rachel always did with his words, she believed him.

Puck had never once lied to her before. He'd never needed to. She understood him. "Thanks, Noah," She sighed, giving him a small smile as they continued their meal together in silence. While Noah Puckerman was the only person in the world allowed to call her by her surname, she was the only person allowed to call him by his first name. Which was rather odd, being as she was the one to give him his nickname-and it hadn't really been because of his last time. Most of it had been because of his prankster ways and her obsession with that silly play by Shakespeare. She'd nicknamed him after the star fairy, but now she refused to refer to him by it. It had simply lost its true meaning, after all. He would always be her Noah.

* * *

"That was incredible," Rachel said excitedly as they exited the theater, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist as he did his very best to try and get a cab. "How'd you manage to get tickets for that?" She wondered.

He lowered his head, shaking it slowly. He wasn't so sure he wanted to answer that one. But, he couldn't deny her anything.

"I had the tickets for months now. Since Regionals, actually. I wanted to surprise you with our victory celebration, but instead it turned into a way to cheer you up," He admitted honestly.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Because...god, Rachel, this is just so difficult. I just wish I could read your mind or something, because that would make it easier to tell you this, but, well...Rach, I got you the tickets because I wanted an excuse to take you out. I like you, Berry. I really like you-and that's an understatement, because I love you," He said, turning towards her.

"You...you love me?" She wondered, looking up at him in awe.

He nodded, lowering his head. "I know, you still love Finn and you want to be with him, but you should know that I wrote that song about you. I needed to tell you how I felt, because if I try to hold onto those feelings anymore, I'd die. It's too hard to keep lying to myself and you and everybody else. I love you, Berry, and I want to be with you, forever-as your boyfriend," He said.

"Noah..."She whispered, taking a small step towards him. "Please stop talking for a second and let me speak?" She wondered. He nodded. "I love you too. That's why I couldn't be with Finn, despite the kiss. I love you and I want you to be my boyfriend. I want to be your girlfriend. I want us to be the Jewish power couple that you claim we are, since we're both a couple of hot Jews and it's only natural," She teased him.

"How long?" He blurted. He didn't doubt her feelings-she'd never lied to him before, after all-but he wanted to make sure this wasn't a heat of the moment thing. That would destroy him. "How long have you loved me?"

"I've loved you since we sang that duet together. We connected there and it was undeniable. Noah, you and I are just supposed to be together. When you said it was only natural for us to be together, as we were both just a couple of hot Jews with cliche-ed stereotypes that made us belong together even more, you were right. We have this connection that everybody can see. Finn was always jealous jealous of you when it came to me. Jesse was always worried that you'd take me away from him. They all knew, even before I did," She sighed.

"I've loved you since the beginning of this year," He told her, his hands resting on her waist. "I don't know why I saw you as somebody different, but there was something about you that was. And I couldn't place it, but it was there. And it just grew-my feelings towards you, that is-as the year progressed, and I fell more and more in love with you. Damn it, Berry, you're just this incredible girl that I can't imagine my life without. And my mom loves you too. She's planning our wedding already," Puck laughed.

"Are you proposing?" She teased him, sliding her arms around him. They were in the middle of a busy New York City sidewalk, getting bumped into and glared at for being so stationary, but they didn't care. THey had each other and that was all that mattered to them. They loved one another and they always would. It was just a part of the passion that was Puckleberry. "Well? Are you?" She raised an eyebrow. He grinned, chuckling a little as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a long, robin's egg blue box and handing it to her.

"It's not a ring, and it's not about marriage or anything like that. But it is meant for a promise, and I want you to wear it every single day, okay? And I want you to be wearing it as soon as we walk into the hotel. Rachel Barbra Berry, will you wear this necklace," He said as she opened the box and pulled out a delicate gold chain-he wasn't cheap like Finn who had simply got her silver-with NOAH printed across the bottom of the chain. "I want you to wear this necklace so that everybody knows that you're my girl, alright? And I've got other presents for you too. This plan was supposed to take a lot longer than one day, but we had other matters to get to," He shrugged.

"You put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?" She giggled.

"I did," He nodded.

"Help me put it on?" She asked, turning around and lifting her hair. He clipped the clasp for her and turned her around.

"Can I kiss you now?"

"And add another cliche to our list?"

"We might as well keep up the trend."

"Well, then, by all means-kiss me," She giggled, and he did just that.


	9. PromASaurus

**Moments That Matter  
A Puckleberry One Shot Series  
PROMASAURUS  
_A/N: Season 4? I'm loving the Rachel and Kurt story lines. As for the New Direction members? Up until the very end, I was hating them all. The plot's starting to get better, but I'm very annoyed with the Jake/Marley relationship. It's pretty much a Puckleberry knock off. Not cool. _**

Rachel Berry exited the bathroom in the hotel room she'd gotten for their anti-prom in her strapless, form fitting dress that flared out just a bit around her legs with a slight slit in it. It was white with slight sparkles when the light hit the material, and her hair was long, curled, and left to fall gracefully around her shoulders. She knew she looked beautiful, but a piece of her felt empty. She wasn't actually attending the prom in her lovely dress. Her make-up and hair had been wasted on people who honestly didn't care what she looked like. And she would never get to have that prom moment when her date looked at her in awe, telling her how beautiful she looked in her dress as he handed her a corsage.

Sure, Sam had gone through all of the motions last year, but it had been obvious that his real date had been Mercedes Jones. They'd taken Rachel along with them out of pity for her, since she was dateless after being dumped by Finn Hudson and abandoned by Noah Puckerman after they'd made out. And yes, she had had Jesse St. James as a 'date' but he'd never been the perfect gentleman. He was too caught up in his own appearance to even worry about what Rachel had looked like. And he hadn't realized that he'd loved Rachel until long after the prom. Jesse St. James, Sam Evans, Finn Hudson...all failed, terrible prom date experiences that she longed to take back.

But she couldn't. So she plastered on her infamous Show Smile and beamed at Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson, two of her best friends who were busy firting with one another, as well Becky Jackson who was in an argument with Puck-who paused mid-word, eyes locked on Rachel.

"Damn, Rachel, you look beautiful," Puck said, standing up quickly and smiling at her. Puck was dressed simply, in a tee shirt and jeans. He'd really taken this whole anti-prom thing seriously. "Really, you're stunning," He told her.

Rachel could feel her face turning red as she took in the compliment, her smile turning into a real one.

This had been the feeling she'd expected to get from Finn. Somehow, she'd ended up getting it from Puck instead.

"Thank you, Noah, that's quite nice of you to say," She said softly, moving towards the iPod that Kurt had plugged into the iHome he and Blaine had brought with them. Rachel hit play and smiled as _Fall To Pieces _by Avril Lavigne started to play. "Anybody want to dance?" She asked, turning back towards Puck, who had followed her across the room, holding his hand out to her.

"Can I have this dance?" He asked her, a teasing half smile on his face as he swept an arm behind his back, bending at the waist and taking her hand in his own, placing a gentle kiss on it. Kurt awe-d, recalling how similar it was to the _Titanic _as Puck straightened up and placed his hands on her waist, her own arms finding their way to wrap around his neck.

"I'm glad I decided to host the anti-prom," Rachel told him softly, watching as Kurt and Blaine stood up to dance as well. "Brittany's theme was utterly ridiculous, and while I get that it's going to be our last hurrah and all that, I just don't see what all the hype is. We're going to go, eat dinner together and then separate at the dance. Quinn and Finn will be the king and queen, and they'll finish their high school career just as they started-on top of the social pyramid and together, despite the fact that he and I are engaged now," She said with a sigh.

"Rachel, babe," Puck sighed. "As happy as I am that I got out of going to the prom, without breaking my mom's heart by telling her I didn't go to the prom, I really don't want to hear you talk about Finn, okay? I've put up with you complaining about him for three years now. Can you just give me one night-just one night where I don't have to listen to you talk about Finn Hudson and how in love with him you are, despite the shitty ways he treats you? That's all I'm asking for. One night," He begged her.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, lowering her head.

"It's alright, Berry," He shrugged, smiling as she rested her head on his chest. She was much too short-even in her heels-to fit her head on his shoulders, but his chest was just as good a place for him. He just wanted her close to him, after all.

"Did you really mean that I looked beautiful?" She asked, biting her lip as she closed her eyes, waiting for the cruel, bitter, sarcastic remark to leave the mouth of her old bully who had always lived to make her life a living hell. Of course, Puck hadn't been outright mean to her in years. He'd even defended her a few times. That was just another thing that had changed from their sophomore year to their senior year.

"I'm not a liar, and if I were going to lie about how you looked, I'd either have to start saying you looked ugly, because you're freaking gorgeous, or I'd have to start exagerrating on how hot you are. Because, Berry, as attractive as you are and as much as I want to jump you right now, despite our audience, you are not hot. You're sexy as sin, but you're not hot. You're a gorgeous, stunning girl and I've always thought that about you. I just wish I'd gotten up the nerve to tell you that sooner," He sighed. Everything he was saying was one hundred percent true, of course. Noah Puckerman had been madly in love with Rachel Berry since the sixth grade, but he'd never let on.

His bullying had actually been an effect of his crush, because he didn't want anybody to know how he felt. It wasn't that he was ashamed of her. It wasn't that he was embarrassed to be into that loser, freaky Glee kid. No, he was just too afraid that she'd reject him to ever actually act on his feelings. But, there were only a few more months of school left, and he refused to wimp out anymore. He was going to tell her how he'd felt before the year was over, and maybe even try to win her over from that idiot Finn Hudson she was so crazy about.

Of course, he should have known that as soon as he'd mentioned something about Finn Hudson and allowed the tall idiot that he sometimes called his best friend to take over his thoughts, that Finn himself would appear in the room, ready to play the hero and save the day.

The odd thing was, that while he was begging them to come to the prom, he never gave Puck a second glance, despite the way he was holding onto Rachel, who was Finn's fiance. And, when he started towards the door with Kurt and Blaine behind him, he didn't even glance back to notice that Rachel was still wrapped in Puck's arms, not even making a motion to leave.

"Don't you want to join him?" Puck asked softly, his eyes on the door.

"Prom's a little too mainstream for me. I think I much prefer being a rebel and enjoying my anti-prom," Rachel shrugged. That was when Finn returned in the doorway, finally acting as if he really noticed and fully grasped what was happening between Noah Puckerman, who was supposed to be his best friend once again, and Rachel Berry, who was his fiance and the love of his life. Puck couldn't help but smirk as Finn turned bright right, a scowl forming on his face and his fists turning white as he clenched them.

"What's going on, Rach? Why aren't you coming with me? Are you seriously still made at me about the whole Quinn thing, because I was just being nice. She asked me to campaign with her, and it would have been rude to say no, wouldn't it? Besides, I was nominated too, so I had to campaign anyways. I was still going to be going with you," He sighed. Puck hated how FInn was trying to turn the situation around to make it seem as if Rachel were the one who was wrong. Because she wasn't. She had every right to be mad. "Besides, you were right-Quinn's a bitch. Did you know she could walk? She's just been pretending this entire time to get the-"FInn began, but Rachel held up her hand to silence him.

"I'm staying here, with Noah, alright? If you need a date for the prom so badly, why don't you just-"

"You're staying with Puck?" Finn asked blankly, cutting her off. Rachel nodded, her own anger growing. "Well, you can stay with him forever then. You can waste your life away in LIma with him, because I'm not going to stick around and be your second choice," Finn rolled his eyes.

"Are you calling the wedding off? Are you honestly breaking up with me because I wanted to stay here with Noah? Finn, this whole anti-prom was my idea, and you refused to attend with me, because you'd rather be the king with Quinn. I'm sorry, but that's not cool and it's not alright with me. Noah came here with me because he shares my beliefs on prom, alright? We are friends, and it would be rude to leave my own party, making him stay here all alone," Rachel sighed.

"I'm breaking up with you, because you don't know what you want. So screw you, Rachel, and forget you, Puck, because it's clear that you belong together. And enjoy it while it lasts, Rach, because as soon as I find somebody else, he's going to have his sights set on her. That's just how he is. First he took Quinn and now he's taking you from me," Finn said as he stormed off. "Come on, Becky," He rolled his eyes, gesturing for the short blonde girl to accompany him. Becky smirked at Rachel as she hopped to her feet and hurried after Finn.

"Come on," Puck said, hooking arms with Rachel after a few moments of a shared, stunned silence. "Let's get out of here and go to the real prom. I'll even change-I have a tux in my truck," He smirked down at her. She looked up at him in confusion and he broadened his smirk a little bit. "Rachel, I've been waiting for that break-up since the beginning of the school year. You weren't happy and I want you to be happy. I'm taking it as my job, because I ruined a lot of your high school life by bullying you. So I'm going to make it up to you now. So, will you be my date to the silly dinosaur prom? Besides-I'm on the ballot for prom king, and I'd really like to beat Finn," Puck whispered into her ear, causing her to giggle.

* * *

Noah Puckerman was loving the smile that was taking over Rachel's face as she squealed, running into the prom and wrapping Mercedes Jones, her best friend, into a tight hug. He didn't love how Sam Evans hugged her too, but she was so happy, he'd have to let it go. When she was done greeting all of her friends, he wound an arm around her waist and led her towards the dance floor, placing his hands on her waist and allowing her to wrap hers around his neck. She looked up at him with a sly smile on her face and a devious look in her eyes. He loved the expression. It was the real Rachel-not the shy one who was afraid of getting hurt and being made fun of every time she opened up her mouth.

"I didn't think you could dance," She said teasingly.

"Baby," He sighed, releasing her slightly and spinning her away from him before pulling her back in and twirling her back into his arms. "There's an awful lot you don't know about me. And one of them is that I most definitely _can _dance," He smirked back at her, giving her a little dip and looking down at her. "Maybe even better than Chang," He said teasingly as he brought her back to her feet.

"Well, then, I guess tonight's going to be a welcome change. Finn's a god awful dancer. I mean, look at that poor girl he's dancing with now. She's wincing because he's stepping on her with his big feet," Rachel giggled.

"Rachel...does that bother you? That he's dancing with another girl so soon after you guys broke up...although, I'm not telling you that I'm sorry about that, of course, because then I would be at the prom with a gorgeous Jewish girl-which is going to make my mom very proud when she sees pictures and I tell her, just so you know. And, if you two hadn't broken up, I wouldn't be getting back the Rachel Berry that can stand up for herself and isn't afraid to be herself, rather than some sort of Quinn Fabray knock-off," Puck said.

"I don't care that he's dancing with another girl. But..didn't he take Becky with him when he left?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah...you're right, he did. What the hell'd he do with her? Throw her to the dogs or something? Do you see her anywhere?" Puck asked, surprising Rachel with the worry in his voice-he was sure of that. Not many people understood that Puck cared about people and their feelings. THe people he bullied were typically people who acted as if they were better than everybody else.

"I see her...sitting by herself at a table, all alone. Oh, I feel simply horrible. I can't believe he'd bring her to the dance and then leave her. What was he accomplishing by doing that? And she was so excited at the thought of being able to dance with Finn Hudson at the dance..."She sighed, shaking her head, a deep frown stretched across her face. Puck loved that she was just as caring about people as she was. It was a large part of the reason that he'd decided to stop slushying her. Besides her incredible kissing. That was just another added bonus.

"Do you mind...Rachel, I'm going to go dance with her, just for one song, okay? You're not going to get all mad and angry right?" He asked her, taking a step away, stopping their dance.

"Of course I don't mind!" Rachel said quickly. "Everybody deserves to have a special night, and that included Becky. Noah, you are the absolute nicest guy in the entire world sometimes, and I find myself very lucky to be able to see that side of him," She informed him.

He grinned as he turned on his heel and started walking towards the sad little blonde girl in her Cheerio's uniform. He slid into the seat besides her and smiled.

"Hey, Becky-you want to dance with me?" He asked her with that arrogant half grin, that was almost a smirk. THe same smile that had gotten him into almost every girl's pants at McKinley. It was his trademark.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I can't resist asking a beautiful girl to dance, especially on prom night," He told her honestly.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up.

"Of course. Come on, you ready?" He said.

"Yes," She smiled. He took her arm in his and led her towards the dance floor. They settled into one another's arms and he grinned down at her.

"SO, what was up with that freak out about not getting on the ballot for prom queen? I mean, I would have expected that from Santana or Quinn-not from you. I didn't think that kind of stuff mattered to you," He asked her, trying to make conversation.

"I just wanted one night where I could feel popular and beautiful," She said simply.

"You wanted one night to feel like you were the best, right?" He asked her.

"How'd you know?"

"You can't be friends with Finn Hudson for as long as I was and not understand how it feels to always come in second best. But, you know what, Becky? You're much more beautiful than Quinn or Santana-because they're only pretty on the outside. You're gorgeous in the inside as well. And that's a rare quality to find-especially in girls at McKInley," He sighed.

"Did Rachel tell you to ask me to dance?"

"No...and what makes you think I'd listen to Rachel? I'm bad ass, remember?" He grinned.

"Because when you look at Rachel, it's clear that she's your whole world," She sighed.

This was a different side of Becky than he was used to seeing. She wasn't the bitchy, mini Sue Sylvester that most of the school saw. She wasn't the slutty girl trying to get with Artie. She was talking to him like an everyday teenage girl, and that made him smile. Because that's all Becky really was. An ordinary girl. She wasn't different from Santana or Quinn or Brittany, or even Rachel. She was just like every single member of the Glee Club, actually. An ordinary person, with one special quality that made them stand out.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do."

"I'm bad ass. I don't have feelings."

"The Cheerios could all do naked backhand springs, and you wouldn't even give them a second look. A very long first glance, sure, but you wouldn't look back. Especially not if Rachel walked by," Becky said.

"That's not true."

"It's happened before,"

"How'd I miss that?"

"Rachel walked by the gym, right as you settled in front of the door, and you took off to catch up with her."

"I love her..."

"Everybody already knows."

"Shit."

"Except for her."

"I can't tell her..."

"I bet she loves you too."

"I don't deserver her. I'm just going to hold her back."

"You aren't a loser, Puck." She said as the song ended and she turned and walked away, allowing Rachel to step back in.

"That was sweet of you, Noah," Rachel beamed as she wrapped her arms around him again.

He simply nodded, too caught up in his thoughts about what Becky had said. Yes, he loved Rachel Berry. And maybe there was a chance that she loved him too. But that didn't change the fact that he was flunking out and going to go absolutely no where in life. He'd be stuck in LIma, forever repeating his senior year, while Rachel made her way out to New York City and became a Broadway star, meeting a guy who was just as successful as she was. And then they'd fall in and love and have an over publicized wedding, leading Puck to hear all about the girl he still loved, while Rachel forgot all about the Lima Loser who she may have harbored feelings for at some point or another.

And if Rachel didn't love him back? He'd be humiliated and ruin the rest of his high school life-well, the rest of his high school life with the people he actually cared about-avoiding Rachel like the black plague. Because he'd be too ashamed to look at her, knowing that she knew how he felt, and didn't return the feelings. And he'd constantly be wondering if it was merely out of love for Finn that she had no feelings for him, or if it was because she understood that Puck was just a Lima Loser, destined to buy beer for younger, under age kids while begging to know where the hot party of that night was, just to flirt with some high school girls. And if that was why, he'd be even more ashamed.

"I know you failed that test." Rachel said.

"SO you know I'm not graduating?"

"You're going to graduate."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm going to help you study."

"I already failed the test, Rach,"

"We're going to get you a retake, silly," She giggled.

"My brain is like a roach motel."

"I don't think that."

"Why not?"

"You remembered that grape was my favorite slushy flavor."

"So?"

"THat information didn't get stuck inside."

"It's only one-"

"You know your sister's birthday?"

"Yes."

"Your mom's?"

"Of course."

"Information that you care about, that stays with you."

"I don't care about-"

"I'm going to make you care."

"How?"

"You'll see," She winked.

"Tell me!"

"Alright...how about, every time you get a question right that I ask you, I take something off," She tempted.

"Really?"

"Yes."

He gulped. "And if I get it wrong?"

"All the clothes go back on," She shrugged.

"Alright. When do you want to start?"

"Come over tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay." He nodded.

Puck smiled, slightly amazed at Rachel's offer. But, he wasn't going to question it. If he had a chance of seeing Rachel naked, he was going to take it. It was something he'd been dying to see since sophomore year. And, they had a tendency to make out-or at least come close to it-whenever they worked on something together in her bedroom. That gave him a little bit of hope. Maybe Rachel might not feel the same way about him at this moment, but maybe he could make it happen, if he really tried, when it came to their study date tomorrow. After all, she must feel something towards him, if she was so willing to make sure that he graduated and actually went somewhere with his life.

"I can't go to California though..."

"Why?"

"I gave my dad half of the money I had saved. I have enough for school. NOt a plane ticket..."

"Well, that's alright."

"I don't have any-"

"I sent in an application for you to NYU," she smiled.

"I doubt-"

"You got in,"

"I...what?"

"You got in," She repeated.

"Rachel, you are the best friend I've ever had in-"

"Of course, you're going to have to play football out there."

"What?"

"You got a football scholarship. And I wasn't sure what you wanted to major in, so I put down music, because you always took all those classes at school," She explained with a smile.

"That was exactly what I was planning...a few years ago. And then I changed my mind," He said.

"Well, that's good, because I changed it-I've gotten very good at forging your writing," She bragged.

"What is it now?"

"Law enforcement. I figured you'd want to help kids like Mr. Shue helped you," She said.

"Rachel, you're amazing," He said.

"I know," She smirked.

* * *

Santana and Quinn stood on the stage, ready to announce the prom king and queen with big smiles on their faces. Rachel was positive that one of them had won-or maybe it had been a tie.

"Noah Puckerman," Quinn announced proudly, smirking wickedly at a shocked Finn Hudson.

In all honesty, Puck was probably just as shocked. His eyes grew wide and he dropped his jaw as Rachel whispered for him to go to the stage, giving him a bright congratulations. He slowly sauntered up onto the stage and allowed Santana to place the stupid, easily bendable metal crown onto his head, an amused smile on his face as he took the mic, asking if he'd won because everybody was afraid of him, earning a laugh from the crowd.

But a frown from Rachel. After all, clearly Noah had the quality that allowed him to be liked by everybody. And not just because he was the prom king. It was because no matter how big of a bully he was to everybody, people still admired him. People still wanted to be him. No matter what he did-whether it was steal Finn Hudson's girlfriend or date Lauren Zizes-people admired him and worshipped him. People followed him. Even when he'd lost the mohawk or dated Rachel-sure, there had been moments when it had seemed like his popularity was deflating, but...it hadn't-people had still done as he'd said and listened to him. He was _Noah Puckerman _and people were jealous of how he just didn't care about popularity or titles. He didn't seem to care about anything, but a few people-the New Directions, in general-got to really know him and how much he did care.

"And for your prom Queen!" Santana grinned into the mic, her eyes meeting with Rachel's, her wide smile on her face, as she gave a tiny wink that Rachel almost thought she'd imaged. "McKinley High, you all sure seem to have a totally insane obsession with write-in votes," She shook her head. "And this year, you decided to give Rachel Berry a chance to be your queen!" She announced. Rachel gulped as she raised her chin and started to walk towards the stage, a bright show smile plastered on her face as she worried about what type of prank the two cheerleaders had in store for her.

Quinn lowered the cool, metal tiara onto her head as, very slowly, the entire gym began to cheer. Boys wolf-whistled at her, and girls awed at how adorable she and Puck looked together. And that was how Rachel knew that things were started to change. Her election had not been because of a sick, cruel joke. They had actually picked her as the queen. She grinned as she took the mic for her speech, shocking everybody with her words.

"Thank you guys, for giving me this amazing title...but, I think the girl who really deserves this crown, isn't the won who's wearing it. Becky Jackson?" She called into the mic, remembering the story Puck had repeated to her. It had brought tears to her eyes, and made her realize that to some people, the crown was worth more than popularity. It was something they wanted to make their high school career feel like they'd actually meant something to the school. "Becky Jackson, can you come here?" She asked sweetly into the mic, a real smile on her face now.

Slowly, the crowed began to part as Becky made her way towards the stage, a startled smile on her face. Brittany Pierce was holding onto her arm, walking her over with an encouraging grin on her face. Rachel smiled as she walked off of the stage and placed her crown onto Becky's blonde head.

"Becky, you deserve this more than anybody else in the school." Rachel said brightly. THen she turned back towards the crowd. "And I know exactly who you want to dance with right now. Artie Abrams? You wanna come play prom king for a little while?" She called into the crowd, only a little surprised as Artie slowly wheeled himself towards the stage, holding a hand out towards Becky. Rachel mouthed a pleased thank-you to Artie as she turned around, slightly startled to find Puck there, staring down at her, holding his hand out to her with a grin.

"Come on, you're still my queen, remember? We need to dance," He said, taking her around the waist and pulling her close.

They danced in silence, until Rachel couldn't take the way he was staring at her anymore.

"What?"

"That was incredibly nice," He told her. "And surprisingly uncharacteristic of you," He observed.

"She deserved one moment of happiness in high school. One moment to look back on and smile about."

"So do you."

"I have so many of those moments...I didn't need another," SHe shrugged.

"Well, I think you do," He said, reaching up and removing the crown from his own head and lowered it onto her own.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because I love you."

"What?"

"I love you, Rachel, and I always have."

"You...love me?"

"Yes, now shut up so I can kiss you," He grinned at her.

"Noah," She sighed.

"Shush! I said no talking," He whispered playfully as he leaned in towards her.

"Noah," She tried again. BUt he placed his lips to her own at that moment.

ANd she allowed him to kiss her, pulling herself closer to him.

"Now you may speak," He told her, resting his forehead against hers as they broke apart.

"I love you too," She smiled.

"I figured you would," He smirked.

"But I'm in love with Noah...Puck? He's incredibly sexy, but not the guy I love," She said.

"Can I bring Puck out when I'm trying to get laid?"

"You have such a one track mind," SHe rolled her eyes.

"When it comes to my incredibly hot girlfriend..."

"I'm your girlfriend?" She asked playfully.

"As I'm your boyfriend, I hope so..."

"You never asked," She pointed out.

"I never ask," He growled into her ear.

"THen I guess I'm yours for the taking," She smiled.

"You mean it?"

"I think I'm ready for a totally cliche-d prom night," She nodded.


End file.
